The Conduit War: From the Ashes
by Ciaus Falkreath
Summary: Sequel to The Conduit's Deception - With the conduits freed and the Ray Sphere within reach, it seems nothing can stop our team. However, Bentley's past comes to haunt the entire group as they come across a shocking truth and finally begin to unravel the mystery surrounding Cole's gift. Trailer - "From the Ashes Teaser Trailer" by Ciaus Falkreath on Youtube
1. PROLOGUE

Forty-Seven Hours Ago

For the first time in history, Curdun Cay held nothing but silence. Not a single D.U.P. agent or prisoner inhabited the station. The massive complex was only a small ghost-town. However, it wouldn't be for too long. Only hours after the conduits had left, Curdun Cay Station had become inhabited once again. D.U.P. agents spilled out of vehicles both on the ground and in the air. It had become a crime scene investigation. Left and right, agents examined damage and took inventory. After another half-hour, their superior arrived. He showed up in a completely black S.U.V. that contrasted the snowy landscape and, despite the cold, wore light riot armor and no helmet, his short black hair blowing ever-so-slightly in the wind. As he left the vehicle and walked into the complex, another agent, holding a tablet, greeted him.

"Status report," he ordered.

"Mr. Callot!" the agent replied while walking alongside him towards the main building, "Sir, all of the bio-terrorists are reported missing, as well as the agents who were stationed here."

"Any leads?" Callot inquired, staring straight ahead of him.

"We believe it may be an inside-job."

"Is that so?" Callot replied, unamused.

"During the time of the attack, one D.U.P. agent's privilege was revoked," the agent explained.

"Who's the agent?"

"Sam Campbell, number A623."

"I see."

"We're already having agents search his personal belongings as we speak."

"Excellent, have you examined the security footage?"

"We were unable to sir, the past twenty-four hours of footage has been deleted."

"Interesting," Callot whispered before returning to a normal volume, "Was anything taken?"

"Only one thing sir," the agent replied.

There was no response from Callot.

"They took the map," he replied after a second of silence. Callot stopped dead in his tracks.

"So… they're after the Ray Sphere," Callot said blankly.

"That's our assumption sir."

"But every attempt to retrieve the Ray Sphere failed… why would he try—"

Callot was interrupted by an audible ding coming from the agent's tablet. The agent tapped on the screen a few times and a look of shock appeared on his face.

"What is it?" Callot asked.

"His… I.D. sir," the agent replied while showing an image of an identification card to Callot. It was an N.S.A. card with an image of an eagle inscribed on it as well as a photo of a man with short brown hair. However, what caught his attention more than anything else was the name that went with the picture.

"Sam… Cooper?" Callot murmured.

"Yes sir, it appears that Sam Campbell was a cover."

"And more importantly, he works for the N.S.A.," Callot added.

"Do you believe this was an assault made by the N.S.A.?" the agent asked.

"No, the government wouldn't dare to attack the D.U.P., it would only give them more problems to worry about. However, this wasn't a random attack. It was strategic. The conduits were freed, minimal damage was caused, and only one thing stolen."

"Bio-terrorists sir," the agent whispered.

"I'm sorry?" Callot asked, slightly annoyed.

"Bio-terrorists sir… not conduits," he corrected.

"Of course, my apologies," Callot replied coldly, "Have a team intercept Cooper immediately."

"Yes sir," he replied while Callot continued alone inside the main building. After some walking, he found his way into one of the large training rooms. He stood on a circular platform with an image of the D.U.P. insignia on the bottom. Using a small remote he pulled from his pocket, he raised the image of the eagle on the floor up to waist level. Now pulling a key from his pocket, he knelt down and inserted it into a keyhole. A small door slid open and a yellow button revealed itself.

When the button was pushed, the eagle raised even higher above his head. An even larger door slid open and Callot walked inside. Once inside, he pushed a button with an image of a downwards arrow on it. The door slid shut, and the entire eagle-shaped contraption slowly lowered itself. The elevator sunk downwards for a few minutes until it slowed to a stop.

Soon enough, a beep was heard from inside the elevator and the door slid open. What it opened to was nearly unbelievable. It was a circular room that encompassed a large prison cell. A steel shield prevented anyone from looking inside the cell. Scattered throughout the room, sat computer terminals and consoles. One particularly bigger than the other. Callot walked over to that terminal. He tapped away at the computer until it beamed to life. Once the computer was active, he opened a program, tapped a few more keys, and hit enter. As he hit it, the steel shield lifted up to reveal a monster.

Each limb was restrained securely to the walls. He was the size of an average man, but he was in no other aspect average. His skin was charred and cracked with bits of red flowing throughout his body, giving him a molten look. His only clothing was a pair of tattered shorts. His eyes were closed and his head hung low, as if he were dead, or asleep. Callot walked over to the cell with his arms behind his back.

"It's only a matter of time John," Callot said, speaking to the monster, "Only a matter of time."


	2. CHAPTER 1 - Empire City

_Author's Note_

 _Another one in! I'm sorry about slackin'. There's this thing called college that I'm starting right now and I guess it's a big deal, (that was sarcasm by the way, college is very important, stay in school kids) but I'm doing my best update my stories and hopefully it won't be too long for the next installment. I've also been playing through the entire Paper Trail campaign for the first time this past week and I wanted to make sure everything was cannon. Anyways, I've rambled on enough, enjoy this segment and tell me what you think. I love getting your guys' feedback._

As the group gathered inside the mobile command center and prepared for their journey inside the city, Bentley began experiencing technical difficulties.

"Sam, we've got a problem," he called, gesturing him to look at his computer. As Sam gazed at the screen, he immediately noticed the problem. The G.P.S. was flickering and preventing a clear picture from being displayed.

"Crap," Sam muttered under his breath.

"What is it Sly?" Delsin asked.

"We're being jammed," Sam answered.

"And we can't get any closer to locating Ray Sphere without taking care of that first," Bentley added.

"Could you track what's jamming us?" Delsin asked.

"I could try, but that's not exactly my area of expertise," Bentley replied while typing away at the computer. At that point, Eugene stepped up to the table Bentley was sitting at.

"Can I… try?" he asked. Bentley turned his laptop towards Eugene, and he started working away. A few command windows later, Eugene returned Bentley's laptop to him and a single pair of coordinates was visible.

"You need to show me how you did that later," Bentley replied while transferring the coordinates onto Sam's phone. All five of them left the vehicle and began their trek. It wasn't until then that Sam looked at the coordinates.

"So, where are we headed?" Fetch asked, almost reading Sam's mind.

"Looks like… the Memorial Hospital."

"Where's that?" Delsin asked.

"In the Warrens, across the Roosevelt Bridge."

Delsin replied with a look of confusion.

"Just follow Bentley," Sam spoke, gesturing towards his partner in front of him. Delsin immediately ran up to Bentley as Fetch and Eugene caught up to Sam.

"What's it like?" Sam asked after a few seconds of silence, "When Delsin taps into your powers? Is it painful?"

"In a way it was… for me at least," Fetch answered.

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn't just take your powers, he also takes your thoughts, your memories," Fetch explained.

"It's not a physical pain," Eugene added, "It felt really weird, but… I guess the pain comes from how painful the memories are."

"Does he take… all of your memories?"

"Just the ones relating to you being a conduit," Fetch continued, "It felt like Delsin knew more about me as a conduit than I did." Eugene nodded his head in agreement. Sam took this into consideration as they all kept walking, with Delsin and Bentley out of earshot. His armor suddenly felt heavier.

Meanwhile, Delsin and Bentley were having their own conversation. After getting a brief description of the city's layout and the three districts, a question popped up in Delsin's mind.

"Did you know Sebastian Wolfe?"

"He was my professor, before the blast," Bentley answered.

"Seriously?" Delsin asked.

"Everything I know about physics and energy, I learned from him. Of course I had no idea he was working for the First Sons at the time."

"Did you about his brother?"

"Ramond? Yeah… you should know that it wasn't your fault," Bentley assured.

"If I had got there sooner, I could've saved him."

"He signed up for this line of work, he knew the stakes. If you won't take that, then know this: he didn't die in vain. Because of you his work got to the people. Both of them died for what they believed in."

"Damn… that was pretty good," Delsin admitted.

"My original major was philosophy," Bentley added. On that note, the five of them continued their journey towards the Roosevelt Bridge. All the while, Delsin, Fetch, and Eugene were shocked by the image that surrounded them. As far as they could see, no building was taller than ten feet. There were, however, piles of rubble that were taller.

"This is insane," Fetch whispered. Sam nodded his head in understanding.

"First the blast, and then the Beast just a few months later," Sam commented.

"This is why people are afraid of conduits," Fetch whispered.

"Unfortunately yes," Sam replied, "Millions have died from the blast, the Plague, and the Beast. It's very easy to point fingers at conduits."

"But that's not right," Eugene added.

"Trust me, I know. There are good conduits and bad conduits, just like there are good people and bad people."

A few more minutes of crossing the leveled city led the group to the bridge. However, they had a problem. The bridge was completely dismantled, sitting at the bottom of the bay.

"Crap," Sam whispered while examining the situation.

"We can get across that," Fetch responded.

"How?" Delsin replied.

"We could swim," she answered.

"I don't swim," Delsin commented.

"Oh yeah, I forgot… what about Eugene?" she suggested while motioning towards him, "He could fly us across."

"What if he drops us?" Delsin countered.

"Besides, I'm sure this water isn't the best to be in," Sam added.

"Then how do we get across?" she asked.

"There's gotta' be another way around," Delsin replied.

"There is, across the—"

"Freemont Bridge!" someone shouted, interrupting Bentley. The entire group turned around to see a hooded man standing a few yards from them. He wore a red-hooded jacket with a white skull painted on top. He held a uzi submachine gun in his left hand and a long scythe in his right.

"Who the hell are you?" Fetch shouted out.

"Call me Reaper!" he shouted back while walking towards them.

"Yeah, I'm not calling you that," Fetch mocked.

"Doesn't matter, you'll be dead either way."

"Aren't you pushing it a little with the scythe?" Sam asked as the man ceased his approach a few feet from them.

"Says the guy in the iron suit," he snapped, "What the hell is the D.U.P. doing here?"

"We're not with the D.U.P.," Delsin assured, "These two quit the D.U.P., they helped us liberate Curdun Cay."

"I see, you're with the government then."

"We're not with anybody," Fetch argued.

"Yeah? Why are you here then?"

"We're looking for something," Delsin explained.

He chuckled.

"Whatever you're looking for, I can assure you… you won't find it here."

"Trust me, we know it's here," Delsin countered.

"I didn't say it wasn't, I just said you weren't going to find it. Now I'm gonna' ask you guys politely to leave this city," he replied while pointing his weapon at Delsin.

"Look buddy," Delsin said while conjuring a ball of smoke in his hand, "You don't want mess with us." The man looked shocked for a few seconds before releasing a mischievous smile.

"This'll be interesting."

Within a second, he disappeared into a red mist and reappeared behind Sam, as if teleporting, and he prepared to swing his scythe.

"Sam!" Delsin shouted as he pegged the man with a few smoke shots, causing him to to teleport to his original location.

"A conduit?" Delsin asked out of shock.

"One of the first," he said proudly as he dropped his scythe and threw his free hand on the ground. Where his hand stayed, blue sparks erupted and when it was lifted, a narrow blue shockwave was launched forward at the group. As they leapt out of the way, he grabbed his scythe and teleported behind Delsin. This time, he shot at Sam who rolled out of the way in defense before swinging at Delsin. Using a smoke dash, he dodged his strike. However, as if detecting his moves, he teleported next to Delsin's upcoming location and swiped at him, nailing him in the arm. As he slumped to the ground, Fetch ran up at light-speed and blasted the Reaper onto his back. He then looked at Fetch.

"Damn you're fast," he replied just before Fetch fired a neon beam towards him. However, he teleported out of the way and right beside her.

"But not fast enough sweetheart," he replied before kissing her on the cheek. Enraged, she swung a neon fist in that direction, only to find that it hit nothing. Meanwhile, Bentley and Eugene hung back and avoided the battle. Bentley had convinced Eugene not to fight, as his angel form may draw any unnecessary attention towards themselves.

As the battle progressed, Delsin managed to get back on his feet while Sam came up with a simple solution. Willing to finish Delsin, he aimed his gun towards him and Sam held out his hand. The gun was immediately disassembled and the parts fell to the ground. He then looked at Sam, a confused expression spread across his face.

"A watchman?" he whispered, inaudible to the others. He stood dead in his tracks as he held the blade of his scythe. Like before, blue sparks flew towards his hand but, as he removed his hand, his scythe shattered, and he was left with a wooden stick that he threw to the ground.

"Let's do this," he taunted. Sam held out his hand and his dual rifles spat bullets. The Reaper teleported out of the way easy enough and appeared by Delsin's side who immediately whipped out his chain. As smoke encircled it, Delsin flailed it around, trying desperately to hit him… to no avail.

"I'm really starting to hate this guy!" Delsin shouted out of frustration.

"You just now hate him?" Fetch snapped as she misfired bolt after bolt of neon. After a while, the Reaper began to take note of Bentley and Eugene, who weren't taking part in the fighting. He teleported to him and pushed to the ground, where he placed his hand on Bentley's chest. Once aware, the group flailed towards the commotion as Eugene began his transformation into an angel. Suddenly, one sound interrupted the entire scene: a loud gunshot. Even the Reaper turned to see where it come from. Just a few yards from them, stood a man. He was overweight, wore tattered clothing as well as a pair of sunglasses, and held a forty-four magnum high in the air with smoke trailing from it. His messy black hair blew slightly in the air as he walked towards the battle.

"What the hell is going on here?" he spoke with a slight accent. The Reaper stood up and teleported a few feet in front of him.

"I was clearing out the D.U.P.! I was doing my job!"

"God damn it Ryan! Do they look like D.U.P.?"

"But, he was wearing—"

"Don't you know who that is?" he asked pointing at Delsin, "That's Delsin Rowe for God's sake!" That's when Delsin picked it up.

"That voice… I know you,"

"Name's Zeke… Zeke Dunbar."


	3. CHAPTER 2 - The Hideout

_Hey guys, Ciaus here! So... a little change in plan. Instead of adding a new chapter, I just added to this one. I figured this would look better than two shorter chapters. I am done with college for the moment, so look forward to some new content in the near future. Anyways, enjoy this little add-on and thanks for being so patient. Ciaus Falkreath out!_

After a few minutes of awkward silence, the group split into two. Sam and Bentley headed back towards the command center to relocate it as the remaining group proceeded on foot towards the other bridge. Among the five, the awkward silence continued to fill the air. Ryan, who walked alongside Zeke removed his hood, revealing his light short brown curly hair and darker skin. As the two walked by, Zeke shook his head.

"How was I supposed to know it was them?" Ryan whispered furiously.

"You weren't, that's why you have to always come to me first," Zeke snapped, just above a whisper.

"Look, they're after the Ray Sphere, and if they find it—"

"Ryan," Zeke interrupted, "I know how you're feeling about this, but these people have the best intentions in mind." Ryan backed away from Zeke and teleported off to the distance. Zeke sighed and looked to the group behind him.

"I'm… sorry 'bout all this. It was supposed to be under better circumstances."

"What do you mean?" Delsin asked.

"Our meeting. I had envisioned it with a little more grandeur," he explained, "I wanted it to be in D.C. sharing a meal with the president. We'd all be sitting down and having a nice juicy steak. And then, after he wiped his mouth with his fancy napkin, the president would say to us 'I just wanted to thank you for your incredible service to this country.' And I'd say, 'Mr. President, you're goddamn welcome.'"

"Is that really how you pictured it?" Fetch asked, chuckling.

"More or less, as long as it wasn't in this hell hole I would've been fine." Delsin couldn't help but look around at his surroundings while taking his comment into consideration.

"Why _are_ you here?" Delsin asked.

"Despite it all… it's home," he answered.

"Home?" Fetch asked.

"Hell yeah, believe it or not, this was one of the best cities to live in up east. Rent was cheap and most of the people knew you by name. Damn good times."

The trio once again took a long look at their surroundings, trying to imagine such a city. Suddenly, they heard honking from behind them. The truck hauling the M.C.C. drove right up to the group, and all four hopped into the command center. As they took their seats around the table, a thought came to Delsin.

"What's wrong with Ryan?"

"You mean Reaper," Fetch corrected coldly, still sour about their encounter

"He had uh… troubles… growin' up," Zeke answered.

"Tell him to join the club," Fetch snapped.

"Look, don't take what he did to you guys too hard. He _was_ doing his job, protecting all of us," Zeke pleaded.

" _All_ of us?" Delsin questioned.

"Yep, just wait and see."

A few minutes later, they had crossed the bridge and made it to the Memorial Hospital, or what was left of it. The majority of the walls were still standing. However, the ceilings were replaced with cloth roofs and tents surrounded the outside of it. The trailer pulled in and people walked up to it. Some did so out of curiosity, others out of fear. Everyone poured out of the two combined vehicles, with Zeke leading the charge.

"What is this place," Delsin asked, dumbfounded.

"I call it The Hideout. It's a refuge for conduits and the like to rest after bein' chased down by Augustine," Zeke explained.

"Wait, these conduits escaped Augustine?" Fetch asked.

"Yep, some of 'em even escaped Curdun Cay," Zeke added.

"I thought we were the only ones, why didn't we know about them?" Fetch asked.

"Nobody knew," Zeke explained.

"It would've been bad for her image," Sam added, "But when the _government_ went to transport conduits, that's when Augustine could admit something. She could easily blame the government and swoop in to save the day."

"How many conduits are here?" Fetch asked.

"Six identified, a dozen or so who may be, as well as a few conduit supporters."

"How'd they escape?" Delsin asked.

"Ryan."

Delsin immediately turned to Fetch, who looked away. After a few moments of silence, the group stopped at a door that led to the only intact room of the hospital. Meanwhile, Fetch looked back where they came and saw Ryan sitting in a crumbled corner of the building.

"I'll be right back," Fetch spoke out. Delsin looked back in time to see her walking towards Ryan.

"She'll be fine," Sam replied as he held the door open for Delsin.

"It's not her I'm worried about," Delsin told him.

As they all entered, they gathered around a table. Zeke sighed heavily before speaking to the group.

"So… you after the Ray Sphere I take it?"

"That's correct, do you know where it is?" Bentley asked.

"Unfortunately no. Hell, I didn't even know it was here, until the dupes started snoopin' around. Didn't look like they knew either."

"That's because they didn't," Sam explained.

"The D.U.P. created a tracking device that detected a gamma signature only comparable to the Ray Sphere," Bentley added.

"What's the issue then?" Zeke asked.

"There's something blocking the signal. Because of that, we can't pinpoint its exact location," Zeke added.

"I see."

"And our friend Eugene hear managed to locate the jammer," Delsin concluded, patting Eugene on the back. This elicited a sigh from Zeke.

"I know exactly what y'all talking about. Unfortunately, I can't help you."

"Why not?" Delsin asked.

"That same jammer is what's keeping these conduits hidden. It disrupts communications and satellite imaging," Zeke explained.

"We're here to destroy the Ray Sphere, surely you can do something?" Bentley pleaded.

"Look, as much as I want this thing gone, I'm not gonna' let all these other people be hunted down!"

"What if we set it on a timer or something?" Delsin suggested.

"That… might work," Eugene commented, "We only need to turn it off in the time to find it, right? We shut it down, use our tracker to find the Ray Sphere, and turn it back on."

"You can do all that?" Zeke asked, dubious towards Eugene's plan.

He nodded.

"Alright then, but I swear to God if any of these people get—"

"Nothing," Sam interrupted, "Is going to happen to these conduits."

"Let's get to work," Bentley told the group.

Meanwhile

As Fetch approached Ryan, she noticed something that was off about him. He wasn't the cocky prick that they fought. If anything he looked… distressed. She slowly walked until she was just in front of him.

"Hey," she spoke, causing Ryan to look up, "Mind if I sit?"

Ryan gestured towards a pile of rubble next to him and she sat down.

"So… Zeke told me you helped saved these conduits."

"I'm trying to atone," he said blankly.

"For what?" Fetch asked.

"Everyone keeps throwing on this science crap when it comes to conduits, but I think it's more than that."

"You think you're being punished?" Fetch pieced together.

He sighed.

"After the blast, everyone I knew was gone. My friends, my family… they were just… gone. Then _they_ found me, the Reapers. They came for me. Dragged me out of the dust and to some woman. I can't explain it, but she controlled me."

"Was she a conduit?"

"Yeah, she threw this oil stuff at me and suddenly… I wasn't… me. When I came around, everyone else had the same powers as me. She gave them my powers, and they used them to hurt people. I realized then it was my fault."

"How? You didn't have a choice," Fetch argued.

Ryan stood up.

"We always have a choice. I could've fought back," he retaliated, before teleporting away.

For a few minutes, Fetch just sat there. She sighed heavily just as Delsin approached.

"Fetch, you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered while standing up.

"Good, cuz' we have a plan."


	4. CHAPTER 3 - Power

_Hey guys, I'm not gonna' give a huge speech like I normally do. I just wanna' let you guys know that I would read the previous chapter over again as I updated it a little bit. Now without further ado yada yada yada, enjoy..._

Within minutes, the group gathered around a large radio antenna just outside the hospital. Eugene stood at an access panel and began fidgeting with its contents.

"How's it going?" Delsin asked.

"It's going to be a bit trickier than I thought," Eugene answered.

"What do you mean? Isn't it just a simple turn off and then turn back on?" Delsin asked.

"Yes, but the thing is, I have no idea how long it'll take to turn back on. It may be hours before the jammer kicks in.

"So what do we do then?"

"Jammers work on the same level as radars, "Bentley explained, "They send out a brief pulse that matches the same frequency as common radars. So, theoretically we should be able to see the portions between pulses on our map."

"But we can't," Delsin added.

"That's right, meaning that the person who designed it, created it to match the frequency to a continuously running EMP," Eugene added.

"I thought that wasn't possible," Sam stated.

"And you'd be right. Usually, the cooldown time between pings is determined by the size of the ping. The larger the ping, the larger the space between pings."

"So you're saying—"

"This jammer was designed to create pings that are infinitely small," Bentley continued.

"Leaving virtually no space between pings," Eugene concluded.

"Can you do that?" Delsin asked Eugene.

"Maybe with Bentley's help," he answered, looking at the man in question.

"Alright, let's see what we've got," Bentley chimed, walking up to Eugene and looking at the panel on the tower. Meanwhile, Sam stayed close to the two, making sure they wouldn't lose fingers while Delsin and Fetch sat next to each other a few yards away. Together they watched the duo at work, clueless as to what they were doing.

"It's stuff like that that make me wish I did something after high school," Delsin commented.

"You would do engineering?" Fetch asked in disbelief.

"Well, maybe as a club," he admitted.

"Yeah, I figured as much."

"Probably would've taken art or something."

"Figured that too."

"What about you?" Delsin asked after a moment of silence, "I've seen some of your 'art'."

"That was more of a hobby than anything. Believe it or not I always wanted to be a nurse when I was younger," she explained.

"No way." Delsin replied.

"Oh yeah, it was something I always wanted to do."

"I can't believe a sweet… innocent… angel such as yourself would parade around in one of those skimpy nurse outfits," Delsin teased, causing Fetch to chuckle.

"What makes you think I'm any of those things?" Fetch asked.

"Well, uumm… there's…"

"Yeah that's what I thought," Fetch replied with a smile on her face.

"Just give me a sec to think of something."

"You'll need more than a second."

The next half-hour was spent with playful banter and brief moments of laughter. Time seemed to fly and the two began to come to terms with how tired they were. Slowly they closed their eyes and fell asleep against the pile of rubble they leaned against. However, it wouldn't last long for Delsin. It seemed like only moments after he closed his eyes when he heard someone call his name. It was a faint whisper, but loud enough to stir Delsin. As he awoke, the midday sun had turned into a starry night and everyone else was fast asleep nearby.

"Delsin," he heard again, causing him to slowly turn his head until he found the owner. He saw a small figure in a school uniform and a rabbit mask… made of paper.

"Celia?" Delsin whispered, practically mouthing the word. As he stood up, she whisked away in a cloud a white as floating paper was left in her wake. After taking another look at the group sleeping, he began his pursuit after Celia. As usual, she gave him quite the chase. However, the lack of tall buildings made it easier to keep an eye on her. She kept dashing around rubble, causing Delsin to smoke dash often into large piles of rubble to keep up with her. At one point, they came across a caved-in underpass that Celia zoomed through no problem. However, Delsin wasn't as lucky. The entire underpass appeared to be caved-in and Delsin knew he wouldn't be able to dash for that long.

He instead touched to road under his feet and felt him gain control over concrete. To test his theory, he forced his hand towards the cave-in and concrete shrapnel indeed flew out from his palm. He was dazed. In order to reuse his concrete abilities, he had to come into contact with a D.U.P. agent. Never before could he simply use the ground under his feet to fuel his power. However, what he did next surprised him even more. He held out both of his hands and the concrete rubble lifted off the ground and forced back into place. Delsin walked forward while continuously fixing the tunnel in front of him. As he continued down the tunnel, Delsin could feel a strain on him, not just from the use of his powers, but something in the back of his mind. Something, no… someone… was tugging at him. He forced his eyes shut as he walked forward. The tug got stronger and stronger the further he walked. However, he felt a hot gloopy material around his shoes. He opened his eyes and looked down. He was standing in tar. He looked around and saw trails of it everywhere.

"Delsin," Celia whispered. Delsin looked up and found no one there. It was then that the tug began to fade and Delsin continued in the tunnel. Within minutes, he reached the other side and found Celia, standing at the center of a crater. Delsin slowly approached her, shocked to see her not running away. He kept running until he was right in front of her.

"Where are we?" Delsin asked.

"The beginning, this is where the demon of Empire City was born," she answered.

"Cole Macgrath," Delsin whispered.

"Yes. I swear I can feel him here, watching over me, guiding me as a conduit."

"Celia—" Delsin began.

"What did you get?" Celia interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Delsin asked.

"At Curdun Cay, what powers did you get?" she clarified.

"I… I didn't get any," Delsin told her.

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

"What I have is enough."

"Enough? Then why did you go to Curdun—"

"To save the conduits!" Delsin interrupted.

"Save the conduits? Delsin! The safest place for them _was_ Curdun Cay! And now you sent them to God knows where! All that… and you didn't get a single power," she spoke as she turned away from him.

"I'm disappointed in you Delsin," she said before whisking away in a cloud of white. As for Delsin, he simply stood there. He didn't know what to think, or how to react. However, he heard thunder from above and decided he should head back to the group. However, as he turned around, he noticed that the tunnel had disappeared. The thunder grew louder, startling Delsin. Soon after, the wind picked up as well; dust swirled around Delsin, enclosing him in a barrier. Then, a monster erupted from the dust. It was a man whose skin was charred and cracked. His eyes glowed white with a red outline. On instinct, Delsin held out his hand and fired a smoke shot. It hit the creature and it disintegrated. However, the same creature reappeared right next to him.

Delsin held out his hand once more, this time eliciting a neon beam from his palm. Delsin looked at his hand as the creature disintegrated as before. Before he could ponder any more, another emerged from the dust cloud and Delsin held his hand out once more, releasing pixelated particles that was flung towards his target. As it disappeared, another revealed itself and Delsin hurled concrete projectiles at it. Another appeared behind him and he twisted around and threw paper shrapnel that pierced his target, causing it to disintegrate. Delsin took a few moments to look down at his hands, hoping to somehow understand what was happening. However another appeared to his left and Delsin responded by throwing bullets. Another appeared on his right and he released spears of light. The identical creatures started appearing at a much faster rate.

One by one they came. And one by one they were defeated. First there was glass, wire, stone, and then copper, paint, foam. He fought with plastic. He fought with leather. As he used more powers, he grew more frightened. As he grew more frightened, sparks formed and trickled up his arms. He then used air, blood, and bone. The sparks grew into lightning and the creatures appeared at a much faster rate now and Delsin shot the two closest creatures with two separate powers. He used napalm on the left and ice on the right, and when he seemed surrounded, it happened. The lightning on his arms exploded and a bolt from above struck Delsin. The bolt created a shockwave that decimated the area.

As Delsin fell to his knees, the dust and wind died down. He was breathing heavily. The world was quiet. The world was still. There was no movement of any kind. Delsin, once he caught his breath, stood up. He looked around and saw the broken city. He sighed from relief. However, as he sighed he heard the crackle of lightning behind him. He turned around just in time to see an electrified hand grab his face.


	5. CHAPTER 4 - Half as Long

He awoke and sat up within seconds. Delsin breathed heavily as he looked down at his hands. He flexed them and smoke trailed his fingers. He sighed; it was only a dream. He then looked at the immediate area and didn't see Fetch. He stood up and headed towards the group surrounding the tower, specifically Fetch.

"Morning sleeping beauty," Fetch teased, "Enjoy your nap?"

"Not exactly," Delsin replied while massaging his neck, "How are things here?"

"Seems like they got it. Although I can't understand a word they're saying," Fetch answered.

"That makes two of us," Sam butted in as he approached the teenaged conduits.

"So, they did it?" Delsin asked.

"Yep, they're pinpointing the location as we speak," Sam answered.

"Wow, so we're almost done?"

"Watch it, saying stuff like that will get us all in trouble," Sam remarked.

"I suppose you're right," Delsin replied.

"Hey guys!" Eugene shouted as he and Bentley walked up to the group. "We did it!"

"Got the coordinates and returned the jammer to normal," Bentley replied.

"Well I'll be damned," spoke another voice. The entire group turned to see their newest friend.

"Zeke," Delsin spoke.

"Thought I'd check up on you," he replied, "Looks like I'm a little late."

"Thank you for everything Zeke," Bentley replied.

"Don't thank me just yet, I got a favor to ask."

"Name it," Delsin told him.

"If the Ray Sphere _is_ there, you think you can bring it back here and show me before you go?"

"Absolutely," spoke Sam, "Consider it done."

"Thank you, it'd give me peace of mind to see it go with you guys."

"You're very welcome."

"C'mon, we should get going," Bentley told the group. Within minutes, the jammer disappeared behind them, as they walked towards their destination. The group began to trail while Bentley sped his pace in front of him.

"Where are we headed?" Delsin asked.

"Back to the Neon district, at one of the largest warehouses in Empire City. Or what's left of it anyways," Bentley answered, "After all this time… it never left."

"How long have you been chasing this thing?" Fetch asked.

"Too long," Sam interrupted, "It'll be nice having some closure."

Bentley nodded his head, "You have no idea."

It wasn't too long before the gang arrived at their destination. As Bentley had described, the tracker led them to the remains of an old storage building near the edge of the Neon district.

"So is it buried here or what?" Fetch remarked.

"No idea," Bentley replied.

"Let's spread out, see what we can dig up," Sam suggested. The others agreed as they picked out sections of the collapsed building to search. The seconds dragged on as they left no scrap of metal unturned. Sam proved to be the fastest, given his powers. However, not even that seemed to help them, as no Ray Sphere was found.

"I don't understand! We're right on top of it!" Bentley exclaimed out of frustration.

"Maybe we're picking up another signal?" Delsin guessed.

"Even if that _was_ the case, we would've found _something_!" Bentley explained. As the younger conduits sought a break from their searching, Sam continued in his. He turned over scraps of steel like paper and I-beams like pencils. With the removal of a small group of beams, Sam finally found something.

"Hey guys! Check this out!" he called. The others rushed over to him and stared at Sam's find. It was a bunker door with the lock completely destroyed.

"You were right. We _are_ on top of it," Sam announced.

"Are we actually going down there?" Eugene asked.

"We've come too far to stop now," Bentley answered. With a synchronized sigh, the five of them entered the bunker. Sam and Bentley lead the way with Eugene, Delsin, and Fetch following them. As Fetch took a step, she placed her hand where the lock was blown and was surprised to feel a soft warmth emanating from it. Startled, she quickly withdrew her hand while also catching Delsin's attention.

"Whoa, you okay? What happened?" he asked her.

"Nothing… I'm fine," Fetch replied while holding her hand and staring at the lock, "Let's see what's inside." Delsin nodded hesitantly before continuing inside with Fetch. After traveling down a few feet of stairs, they came across another door that was in a state similar to the first.

"Oh my god," Fetch whispered.

"Be ready guys, we may not be the only ones here," Sam warned. They walked passed the threshold and were greeted by a large room that surrounded a glass cell. The cell itself, however, was shattered. On the ground, laid men of various sizes in lab coats with similar burn marks on their chests.

"What happened here?" Eugene asked nerviously.

"Looks like they were experimenting on something," Sam guessed

"Or someone," Bentley added while walking towards a computer terminal in a trance-like state. He reached the terminal and began searching for any clues. Meanwhile, Sam began inspecting the dead scientists. He leaned over one body and saw a symbol engraved into the shoulder of the lab coat. It was one he knew well. A look of distress appeared on Sam's face.

"What's up Sly?" Delsin asked.

"The First Sons… this place belongs to the First Sons," Sam replied while running his hand through his hair.

"They've been gone for a long time haven't they? How long have these bodies been here?" Delsin asked.

"He's still warm… this was recent," Sam countered.

"How recent?" Eugene asked.

"At least today," Sam answered with a sigh.

"Well let's just focus on finding the Ray Sphere," Bentley pleaded, still working at the terminal. As he did so, the remaining group searched every nook and cranny. However, like the warehouse above them, they came up short. They checked chests, drawers, and even the dead scientists for any clue as to the Ray Sphere's whereabouts. The entire team grew frustrated, with Bentley more so than the others. He began muttering things inaudible to the others. Eugene picked up on this, and began thinking this was more personal to Bentley than he was letting on. Soon enough, he slammed his fists against the terminal.

"It's not here!" he shouted.

"How do you know?" Sam asked.

"Because," Bentley began while walking towards the other side of the terminal and opening a small door, "It should be right here!"

"They were testing it!" Bentley inferred, "The First Sons were testing it!"

"A new conduit?" Sam asked.

"I don't know!" Bentley remarked.

"What were we tracking then?" Fetch asked.

"I don't know!" Bentley remarked. As Bentley took some time to process the situation, Eugene looked into the cell and spotted something. A broken camera.

"What if we check the security cameras?" Eugene suggested, "Maybe it is here and someone hid it somewhere else?"

"Great idea, Eugene," Sam commented, "Think you can Bentley?"

"I can give it a shot," he answered while the whole group went to stand in front of the main terminal while Bentley tapped away on the computer. He found the ongoing security footage and saw three of the five cameras were still functional and showed the group of five standing at the terminal. Bentley then selected the recorded footage and hit "rewind". Bentley allowed the footage to speed in reverse until he saw something noticeable. He didn't have to wait long. He hit the play button and were completely shocked by the scene. Here, all five cameras were functional: three surrounded the cell while two were inside. The prisoner inside the cell was a pale man of average build. He wore a light chest plate with blue lights emanating from it. All four of his limbs were bound to the wall. His head hung low as if he were dead, or asleep.

"Who is that?" Delsin asked.

"I don't know," Bentley replied, still watching the footage.

"Sir! His heartrate is increasing!" a man announced in the video. Another went to the main terminal and observed the screen.

"Oh my god!" he exclaimed, exchanging glances with the screen and the prisoner, "She was right… she did it. I want this data sent to Callot immediately!"

"Yes sir!" a third complied while taking up stations at the main terminal. The head of the group then walked up to the cell. On the camera, the prisoner's eyelids could be seen flickering.

"This is extraordinary!"

"Reports have been sent."

"Excellent! Gentlemen… we are the first to—"

"Sir, something's happening," another at a side terminal announced.

"What? What's wrong?"

With that said, electrical pulses began flowing from the prisoner and striking the window.

"No… it can't be…" Sam said in awe.

"Shut it down! Now!" the man ordered as the strikes of lighting grew brighter and louder.

"All systems are offline! We can't so anything!"

The man then ran back towards the main terminal and opened the hatch that held the Ray Sphere and pried it out of its constraints. Once the Ray Sphere was removed, the lightning disappeared. Everybody in the room was staring at the cell while breathing heavily.

"Contact Callot… I need to speak with him immediately."

"Yes sir, I'll have him up in just a sec—" He was interrupted by a large electrical explosion inside the glass cell, causing the two cameras inside the cell to produce static. When the dust cleared, the pale man was found standing on his own two feet. His restraints were destroyed and the shattered glass matched what the group found.

"It's impossible," the head stated, "Can you hear me?" The man then looked at him for a few seconds.

"You can hear me… It actually worked…" The pale man looked blankly at him before grasping his head with his hands.

"I'm sure it'll take time to adjust," he assured while the man looked back at him, "But let me be the first to welcome you back to—"

The entire group jumped when a bolt of lightning escaped the man's hand and jumped towards the other's chest. The group of scientists ran around in panic as he shot them one by one. When they all laid dead, the man grabbed a hooded lab coat and threw it over his body as well as a spare pair of boots. He also grabbed the Ray Sphere and left the bunker, blasting open the door on the way out. Bentley paused the footage and the entire group took a step back.

"Was that—"

"I don't know," Sam interrupted, answering Delsin's question, "He… died… he's been dead for seven years."

"Sam," Bentley began, "This happened just over an hour ago."

"What?" Sam asked out of disbelief. Bentley pointed at the time stamp only to prove his point.

"That means… he's still here. We have to find him," Sam announced. The five of them left the bunker and out into the crumbling city. However, they didn't get too far past the warehouse. In front of them, stood a man wearing a hooded lab coat with the Ray Sphere in his hand. Sam stood in front of the others as he confronted the man.

"Cole Macgrath!" Sam called.

The man looked at him for a second.

"I don't know what happened to you… but we can help!" Sam assured.

However, the man's glare only seemed to intensify.

"No… you can't!" he exclaimed while throwing a bolt of lightning with his free hand at Sam. However, Sam pulled up his shield and deflected the shot. After the bolt left his body, the man fell to his knees. He looked tired. Sam, with his shield still up, slowly approached the man.

"Get… away!" he exclaimed while throwing a rocket-like projectile at the ground in between them. The shockwave pushed both sides in the opposite direction.

"Careful! If he activates the Ray Sphere, it'll start this whole mess all over again!" Bentley warned. That's when Delsin got an idea. If brute force wasn't gonna' solve things, maybe it was time to take a gentler approach.

"Always wanted to shoot lightning out of my fingertips," Delsin said before dashing towards the man.

"Delsin! Don't!" Sam yelled as Delsin made contact, causing his voice to fade. Like before, Delsin was greeted by faint images, as well as a voice.

 _Dropped out of college and got a job as a bike courier, mostly just to piss of my parents. I was someone you'd never notice. Just a guy delivering packages to folks you'd never know. And then one day… a package found me. Thousands died. Five square blocks smashed into rubble and at the center… was me. Alive… but changed. But no one could have seen what was coming._

 _Back then Empire City was in quarantine. It had gone to Hell. Other people with powers started showing up and it was my job to sort through it all… find out who had given me that package, and why. Hell, even my best friend turned his back on me and tried to get some powers of his own. But in the end, I found the man responsible: Kessler. He explained everything through a vision of the future. Everything went to shit after that point. I met other conduits and had to do the one thing I was made for: Kill the Beast._

 _By sacrificing the conduits, we saved everyone els—_

 _Mom!_

 _I thought I was dead… I thought I wa—_

 _Stay away from him!_

 _The First Sons did something to me… something I ca—_

 _Delsin!_

 _I didn't want come ba—_

 _BANG!_

With that, Delsin forced himself to separate from Cole, a cold sweat on his face.

"You're parents…" Cole began while staring at Delsin, "I'm so sorry." The two stood there hyperventilating while others attempted to understand the situation.

"What just happened?" Fetch asked.

"He's like me," Delsin stated while breathing heavily, "He's a power sponge."

 _Phew! Another one down. Man... I'm so ready for summer. I haven't been nearly as active as I want to but things WILL get interesting. This chapter took me a lot of time to think and write because I wanted to make the buildup perfect. Though it may not be, I kinda' liked the way it turned out. With school getting out in a week, I'll have more time to work on this. As always, comment and review; I want to hear your feedback. And thank you so much for sticking with the story, you guys are awesome!_


	6. CHAPTER 5 - Twice as Bright

"What? I thought lightning was his thing," Fetch assumed.

"He had ice too at one point," Sam remarked.

"God… that never gets easier," Delsin quipped.

"It's a little different on the receiving end isn't it?" Fetch quipped back.

"Does that mean he got Delsin's powers instead?" Eugene asked.

"No," Cole answered while recovering.

"If we have the same power, or… prime… power..." Delsin began.

"There's no way they could transfer powers to each other," Bentley concluded, "They would be transferring their ability to absorb powers, not the powers they absorbed."

"But that's impossible," Sam began as Fetch helped Delsin to his feet, "We have detailed reports of—"

"Listen we can discuss this later, but right now we need to get the Ray Sphere out of here," Bentley remarked.

"You're right," Sam agreed, "Cole, can you walk?"

"Yeah… I'm fine."

"Good, cuz there's someone who wants to see you. Bentley, I want you, Eugene, and Cole to take the Ray Sphere to the Hideout and get it ready for disassembly. The rest of us will stay here and explore the bunker some more."

"Sounds good to me," Bentley replied while motioning his group to follow him. As they headed out, Sam, Delsin, and Fetch returned to the bunker. When Sam entered, he somehow expected to find a different scene compared to the one left.

"The First Sons… Cole… here in Empire City," Sam thought aloud as he shook his head.

"What do you think it means?" Delsin asked.

"I don't know," he replied with a sigh, "But it's not a coincidence."

"This is turning out to be quite the trip," Fetch quipped as she began her search.

"No kidding," Delsin agreed while eyeing the computer stations, "Should've kept Geek Squad here."

Sam chuckled.

"It's probably better to have the smart guys working on the weapon of mass destruction," Fetch told Delsin, "Unless of course, you want that sort of thing to happen again."

"Alright fair point," Delsin agreed.

"Wait," Fetch thought aloud, walking towards a few computer screens, "These are all password-protected; how did Bentley get in?"

Meanwhile, Bentley, Eugene, and Cole stayed silent during their entire walk back to the Hideout. However, Eugene's mind was buzzing with thoughts. Something just didn't seem kosher to him. The Ray Sphere, the First Sons, Cole… it just didn't add up. They were missing something, and Bentley knew what it was. His concentration was broken however as they reached their destination. As they walked by the other conduits and conduit-supporters, they became the center of attention. Many stood up and walked closer while still keeping their distance, some out of respect, and others out of fear. Finally, they reached the entrance of the hospital, where Zeke stood waiting.

They stood just inches apart. Dead silence hung in the air as they stared at each other. After a few moments, Zeke removed his glasses while also releasing the words that broke the silence.

"Is that really you?" he asked, just above a whisper.

"It's good to see you Zeke," he responded, his voice raspier than Zeke remembered.

"Cole…" he repeated in disbelief as he went in to hug his best friend. It was at this point Bentley nudged Eugene's shoulder, motioning him to follow.

"We've got some catching up to do," Cole continued.

"You've got no idea," Zeke agreed.

Meanwhile, at the MCC, Bentley connected the Ray Sphere to his laptop. Eugene sat at the table while Bentley made preparations. Eugene was unsettled though.

Outside, Zeke and Cole had convened at a corner of the hospital, isolated from everyone else. Zeke wanted to make sure they were alone. However, they had an unknown guest. Unable to take in the fact that Cole was here in the Hideout. Ryan decided to investigate. He hid against the wall and listened to their conversation.

"It's nice to see you haven't given up on us," Cole said in his gravelly voice.

"I'd never give up Cole, you know that," Zeke responded while placing his hand on his best friend's shoulder.

"Well, I'm glad you haven't left the fight. We're not done."

"What do you mean?" Zeke asked.

"They did something to me. I… don't know what but I've been having these visions… of John," Cole explained.

"My God," Zeke replied.

"They're different now… they changed," Cole added.

"Who?" Zeke asked.

"The First Sons… it's the guys in yellow." That's all Ryan needed to hear. The D.U.P. work for the First Sons and right now, they held the most powerful weapon ever created. He immediately rushed away from the two and towards the team's command center.

Bentley, too occupied in his work, failed to pick up Eugene's gaze. However, his trance-like state was broken when Bentley snapped his fingers.

"I left some of my tools at the jamming array, can you keep an eye on this?" Bentley asked Eugene, excitement bleeding from his face.

"Uh yeah, sure thing," Eugene answered, causing Bentley to bolt out of the MCC almost immediately. As he left, Eugene stood up and walked over to the Ray Sphere which was hooked up to Bentley's laptop… Bentley's laptop. Bentley left his laptop open. This could be his chance.

Time began to slow for Eugene, as he considered the situation at hand

 **Evil** – _He's hiding something and I know it. He knows way too much about us. Maybe he still works for the D.U.P. and he's using us. All I have to do is access his computer and I'll learn everything I need to know. Why does he want this thing? Is it really to dismantle it or something else?_

 **Good** – _Maybe I should trust him. If he really meant to betray us, he would've done it back at Curdun Cay. Using his computer isn't right. I would be invading his privacy. Sam may have lied to us, but he would never let anything bad to us, even if it was from Bentley._


	7. CHAPTER 6 - The Forgotten Son (Good)

Eugene decided to leave it be, and within seconds the computer went to sleep, logging him out in the process. He sat back in his chair and simply waited for Bentley to return. Within minutes, Bentley burst open the door carrying various tools, instruments, and measuring devices, reaching a level of comprehension beyond Eugene's. As the door shut and Bentley began prepping, Eugene realized he wouldn't be of much help. He stood up and walked towards the door. As he opened it, however, he was greeted with a hand-held sub-machine gun pointed directly at him. Ryan pulled Eugene out of the command center and pointed his weapon at Bentley.

"Hands where I can see them!" Ryan shouted. Bentley threw up his hands in response.

"Whoa whoa whoa, what's all this about?" Bentley asked as he threw his hands above his head.

"Step away from that!" Ryan ordered while motioning towards the Ray Sphere.

"What are you doing?" Eugene asked while trying to shake free.

"He's with the First Sons! He wants to turn this thing on again!" Ryan argued.

"No, that's not true! I'm trying to take it apart!" Bentley claimed.

"Bullshit! If that's the case I can just shoot this thing and end it," Ryan threatened, placing his finger in the trigger well.

"You do that, you could very well start this whole thing over again!"

"Besides, why would he kill himself to give more power to conduits?" Eugene added.

"Maybe because he's a conduit too!" A beep erupted from Bentley's computer.

"What's that?!" Ryan asked angrily, pointing his gun at Bentley.

"Relax! It's my decryption program," Bentley answered, his hands still in the air. Ryan let go of Eugene and jumped into the vehicle.

"Show me," Ryan commanded. Bentley slowly lowered his hands and went to his computer, with Ryan following close behind.

"I gathered these files from Curden Cay," Bentley explained as he went through various directories.

"What are they?" Ryan asked.

"They're tests, trials, all sorts of…" Bentley's face went blank and horror replaced what was there previously.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"Oh my god!" Bentley exclaimed while reaching for the phone on the table, only to be stopped by Ryan who grabbed the phone before he could.

"What's going on?! TELL ME!" Ryan ordered.

"It's John! It's the Beast!"

Meanwhile…

"Are you sure you checked them all?" Delsin asked.

"Yes, every single one is protected with a password.

"Maybe Eugene helped him make some sort of hacking program," Delsin suggested.

"Well, whatever it is, it doesn't look like there's anything here for us to find. We should probably head back," Sam concluded. The two other conduits agreed and left the bunker. As they headed back, Sam couldn't help but think of the point that Fetch brought up. He only hoped that Bentley could provide some insight. Suddenly, the trio stopped dead in their tracks. All three of them heard rustling in the debris around them.

"We're not alone," Delsin whispered.

"Get ready," Sam whispered back. Seconds later several heavily-armed soldiers encircled them, holding the conduits at gunpoint.

"Get down on the ground!" one of them ordered. Both Delsin and Fetch held their ground while their respective power showed in their hands.

"Stand down guys," Sam ordered calmly. Delsin looked around at the soldiers circling them. It wasn't the DUP or The First Sons; a look at their shoulder patch showed they worked for the National Security Agency. Hesitantly, Delsin placed his hands behind his head and knelt down. Fetch saw Delsin followed his lead, kneeling down beside him. Seeing the compliant conduits, Sam knelt down as well and three guards placed restraining gauntlets on the three of them.

"What are saying? It wasn't really a prison?!" Ryan questioned back at the MCU after being told the explanation.

"It was a cover! The Beast is there! At Curdun Cay!" Bentley exclaimed, "I need to call my partner and we can—"

"Who? Cuz I bet it ain't the DUP agent you were with," Ryan continued.

"No, you're right… but she's on our side. I trust her."

"That means jack shit to me," Ryan snapped back.

"Oh my god! Give me the damn phone Ryan!" Bentley ordered. Ryan's rage was bubbling inside as he grew closer to pulling the trigger. Before he could, however, a large muscular form grabbed him from behind and caused him to drop both his gun and the phone. When he was out of the vehicle, he was greeted by another figure of the same stature, angels… Eugene's angels. One grabbed each arm and held his hand firmly, preventing the use of his powers. During the whole event, Bentley had grabbed the gun and the phone and looked back at Ryan. Ryan, meanwhile, looked at his captor.

"What the hell Eugene?! He's gonna' kill all of us!" Ryan scolded. Eugene simply shook his head.

"Go, Bentley," was his only reply.

"Right," Bentley replied while tapping the screen furiously. Eventually, he put the phone to his ear and got a response, "Alex! It's Bentley, we need a pickup!"

"Outside the First Sons bunker, the three conduits sat still, awaiting their fate. It wouldn't be for long. Just in front of them, a woman approached the group. She was tall and had perfectly tan skin. Her dark hair was very long and voluminous. And her face was very stern. Sam looked up and his face looked conflicted. She eventually stopped in front of Sam and he responded with a sly smile.

"Well well well, long time no see Carmelita."


	8. CHAPTER 6 - The Son Returns (Evil)

With a quick look back, Eugene took Bentley's seat. He was greeted with several programs running at the same time. Instead of investigating the running applications, Eugene opened his emails. Upon opening, however, he was prompted for a password. Eugene dug into his pocket and pulled out a small block-shaped device and plugged it into an open port. He opened a shell client and overrode the memory in which the passwords were stored. Eugene then entered his new password and was granted access. He clicked on the most recent email received. It simply said: "Package retrieved." The email was received around three hours after they had left Curdun Cay. The sender of the email was an "Alex".

"Alright, I've got all my stu— Eugene? What are you doing?" Bentley asked while walking into the MCC.

"You tell me," Eugene challenged. As the door behind Bentley began to shut, a third person entered.

"You!" Ryan shouted while pointing his submachine gun at Bentley.

"Whoa whoa whoa, what's all this about?" Bentley asked as he threw his hands above his head.

"Step away from that!" Ryan ordered while motioning towards the Ray Sphere.

"I know you're with the First Sons! You want to turn this thing on again!" Ryan argued.

"No, that's not true! I'm trying to take it apart!" Bentley claimed.

"Bullshit! If that's the case I can just shoot this thing and end it," Ryan threatened, placing his finger in the trigger well.

"You do that, you could very well start this whole thing over again!" A beep erupted from Bentley's computer.

"What's that?!" Ryan asked angrily, pointing his gun at Bentley.

"Relax! It's my decryption program," Bentley answered, his hands still in the air. Ryan jumped into the vehicle.

"I wasn't talking to you traitor," Ryan snapped before looking at Eugene.

"That true tech-head?" Ryan asked Eugene.

"Yeah, he's telling the truth. It's a bunch of documents," Eugene answered after a few seconds of looking

"Those files are from Curden Cay," Bentley explained as he went through various directories.

"What are they?" Ryan asked.

"They look like test results," Eugene answered while reading one of the files, "Patient… John White… power… unknown."

"What?" Ryan asked out of disbelief while walking to see for himself.

"Oh my god!" Eugene exclaimed, "John White is at Curdun Cay!" Immediately, Bentley reached for the phone on the table, only to be stopped by Ryan who grabbed the phone before he could.

"What's going on?! TELL ME!" Ryan ordered.

"We need to get to Curdun Cay!"

Meanwhile…

"Are you sure you checked them all?" Delsin asked.

"Yes, every single one is protected with a password.

"Maybe Eugene helped him make some sort of hacking program," Delsin suggested.

"Well, whatever it is, it doesn't look like there's anything here for us to find. We should probably head back," Sam concluded. The two other conduits agreed and left the bunker. As they headed back, Sam couldn't help but think of the point that Fetch brought up. He only hoped that Bentley could provide some insight. Suddenly, the trio stopped dead in their tracks. All three of them heard rustling in the debris around them.

"We're not alone," Delsin whispered.

"Get ready," Sam whispered back. Seconds later several heavily-armed soldiers encircled them, holding the conduits at gunpoint.

"Get down on the ground!" one of them ordered. Both Delsin and Fetch held their ground while their respective power showed in their hands.

"Stand down guys," Sam ordered calmly. Delsin looked around at the soldiers circling them. It wasn't the DUP or The First Sons; a look at their shoulder patch showed they worked for the National Security Agency. Hesitantly, Delsin placed his hands behind his head and knelt down. Fetch saw Delsin followed his lead, kneeling down beside him. Seeing the compliant conduits, Sam knelt down as well and three guards placed restraining gauntlets on the three of them.

"What are saying? It wasn't really a prison?!" Ryan questioned back at the MCU after being told the explanation.

"It was a cover," Eugene answered.

"The Beast is there! At Curdun Cay!" Bentley exclaimed, "I need to call my partner and we can—"

"Who? Cuz I bet it ain't the DUP agent you were with," Ryan continued.

"No, you're right… but she's on our side. I trust her."

"That means jack shit to me," Ryan snapped back.

"Oh my god! Give me the damn phone Ryan!" Bentley ordered. Ryan's rage was bubbling inside as he grew closer to pulling the trigger. Before he could, however, a large muscular form grabbed him from behind and caused him to drop both his gun and the phone. When he was out of the vehicle, he was greeted by another figure of the same stature, demons… Eugene's demons. One threw him to the ground and firmly restricted movement of his hand while another did the same to his other hand, preventing the use of his powers. During the whole event, Bentley had grabbed the gun and the phone and looked back at Ryan. Ryan, meanwhile, looked at his captor.

"What the hell Eugene?! He's gonna' kill all of us!" Ryan scolded. Eugene simply shook his head.

"Go, Bentley," was his only reply, "If you do anything to hurt us, I won't stop him next time."

"Right," Bentley replied while tapping the screen furiously. Eventually, he put the phone to his ear and got a response, "Alex! It's Bentley, we need a pickup!"

"Outside the First Sons bunker, the three conduits sat still, awaiting their fate. It wouldn't be for long. Just in front of them, a woman approached the group. She was tall and had perfectly tan skin. Her dark hair was very long and voluminous. And her face was very stern. Sam looked up and his face looked conflicted. She eventually stopped in front of Sam and he responded with a sly smile.

"Well well well, long time no see Carmelita."


	9. CHAPTER 7 - New Divide

Author's Note

It's been a long, long, long, looooooong time since I've uploaded anything and I'm sorry for that. Between school, clubs, YouTube, and this channel, I've been very busy. Despite it all, I'm still kicking and plan to keep uploading content as long as you all want it. Thank you so much for being patient and please enjoy... Oh also, just a heads up, the next chapter will start introducing new conduits, which I know some of you have been asking for ; )

"Alright see you in a bit then," Bentley concluded, hanging up on the person on the other end. "We need to get Sam and the others."

"Right," Eugene agreed as Bentley gathered up his computer and the Ray Sphere and placing them in a trunk welded to the bed of the pickup.

"What are you doing?" Ryan asked.

"We won't need the trailer where we're going," Bentley answered while undoing the hitch between the truck and the trailer.

"Where _are_ we going?" Eugene asked.

"We're going to see the conduits," Bentley answered.

"In that case, I'm coming with you," Ryan added.

"Says who?" Bentley snapped.

"If you really are here to help, prove it. I wanna' see where the conduits are being kept."

Bentley looked over at Eugene who nodded his head.

"Alright, hop in the back. We need to get to Sam and the others."

"Why is that?" a separate voice asked. Zeke approached the three of them with Cole by his side. Zeke seemed concerned. Bentley sighed.

"I'm not who you think I am," he pleaded.

"Who are you then?" Ryan asked.

"Ryan…" Zeke called.

"I trust him," Cole butted in. He walked up and put his hand on his shoulder, "I only wish I can see that thing burn."

"Why not?" Zeke asked. Cole turned around.

"Go on, both of you," he said, motioning towards Cole and Ryan.

"What about you?" Ryan asked.

"Someone has to stay here and watch over the conduits."

"I…"

"Just go, you can tell me all about it when you get back," Zeke replied, interrupting Cole. Cole gave him a strong slap on the shoulder just before he jumped in the front holding the Ray Sphere.

"We'll be back for you and the other conduits," Bentley promised before speeding off.

Meanwhile, outside the bunker…

"What are you doing here Sam?" she asked with a slight Spanish accent.

"I could ask _you_ the same thing," Sam replied.

"Callate Cooper! I don't have time for this," she snapped, "I've been chasing you for too long."

"Delsin, Fetch… meet NSA Agent Carmelita Montoya. I take it those were your men on the bridge?"

"This area is off-limits, we were sent to enforce that," she explained.

"And you're doing an amazing job at that," Fetch snapped.

"Watch yourself mija," Carmelita snapped back.

"Leave them out of this, it doesn't involve them," Sam interjected.

"You made them a part of this when you brought them here idiota."

"I tried telling them no but… they're stubborn."

"Sam listen… they're seriously considering Project Firestorm."

"What?" Sam replied, his expression completely changed.

"With every passing day you're still out here, they grow closer to signing off on it. You're convincing them that conduits are dangerous."

"What we're doing here, what we're trying to prevent… is far more dangerous," Sam argued.

"It's them you have to convince Cooper, not me. And you can do that in person, cuff 'em," she ordered, looking at another agent. He placed a restraining device on Delsin's hands, then Fetch's hands. Finally, he grabbed a third and walked to Sam. As he attempted to lock the restraint in place, he noticed the bolts wouldn't lock into place.

"This one doesn't seem to be working. It won't fasten," the agent told Carmelita.

"Get him normal cuffs then, he's just a basic concrete thug after all," she suggested, a scowl on her face. Doing what he was told, the agent grabbed a pair of standard handcuffs and tightened them around Sam's wrists. Sam then looked at Delsin and smiled while wiggling his fingers covertly. The three conduits were pulled to their feet and they began their march. Slowly, Delsin made his way right next to Sam with Fetch following close behind. The NSA agents kept a good distance between themselves and the conduits.

"Hey Sly, what's Project Firestorm?" Delsin whispered.

"An armor project," he answered coldly, "The NSA wanted to make artificial conduits."

"What?" Delsin asked, slightly out of doubt.

"They wanna' fight fire with fire," Sam explained.

"But how? What kind of suit can do that?"

"None… yet," Sam responded quietly.

"Montoya! There's a vehicle approaching!" an agent announced.

"Draw your weapons," she ordered before looking at Sam, "Friends of yours?"

The truck sped ever closer towards them and soon enough, Sam saw it was the DUP four-by-four.

"If they don't slow down, open fire," Carmelita commanded. In an instant, Sam's cuffs shattered into metal bits. Sam then held out his hands and two of the guards' assault rifles disassembled and flew towards him. The remaining agents turned to see the commotion and were greeted with Sam holding them at gunpoint with one hand while disassembling the others' restraints with the other.

"Drop your weapons, now," Sam ordered, with all three conduits fully armed. They did what they were told and held their hands in the air.

"You don't know what you're doing Cooper," Carmelita scowled.

"You don't either," Sam countered as they cuffed each agent. Seconds later, the truck pulled up to them.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked Bentley.

"Hop in the back, I'll explain on the way," Bentley answered, sitting in the driver's seat.

"What about them?" Delsin asked, motioning towards Carmelita.

"Leave them here, someone will come by to pick them up," Sam answered, looking directly at Carmelita before heading to the back of the truck.

"You can't run forever," she challenged as the truck sped away.

"Reunion?" Bentley asked Sam.

"You could say that, nothing I couldn't handle though."

"Well, let's hope you can handle another," Bentley added.

"Why? What's going on?"

Bentley didn't answer and the truck approached its destination: the edge of a clearing in the historic district. The car came to a stop and the five of them climbed out of the car. Silence hung in the air as they awkwardly stood about. Bentley looked very uneasy.

"Bentley, what's going on?" Sam repeated.

"He doesn't know?" Ryan asked, aggression apparent in his voice.

"Know what?" Sam asked Bentley.

"I hope you guys are ready, you won't be seeing this city for a while," Bentley announced, ignoring Sam's question.

"Wait what?" Fetch butted in, just before the sound of rotating blades filled the air. In the distance, a helicopter emerged from the horizon.

"Bentley… who did you call?" Sam asked as the helicopter crept closer towards them.

"Your sister," Bentley responded while the large military-style helicopter landed in front of them. The back door opened and a woman walked out. She wore a dark blue suit and had long brown hair. She walked up to Sam and looked him eye to eye. He was paralyzed.

"Alex?" he muttered, "I… I can't believe you're—"

"We can talk about this later, but right now… we need to go," she interrupted as she walked back into the helicopter. Everyone except Sam walked in with little hesitation. When Bentley walked past him, he was greeted by a confused and angry friend. Sam followed him into the helicopter and everyone strapped in. They took off into the air and flew in an unknown direction. They all felt the tension inside the cabin. For several minutes, Alex stared at Cole, unable to believe the fact that he was sitting here before her. After some time she decided to relieve some of the tension.

"For those who don't know, my name is Agent Alex Cooper. I'm with the First Sons," she introduced. Sam looked directly at his feet and refused to look up.

"And it appears you've already met my partner," she continued, motioning towards Bentley. Fetch and Delsin looked at Bentley in response.

"You… work for the First Sons?" Fetch asked. Bentley nodded.

"I've been working with them since before the D.U.P.," he added.

"He's been our top scientist and engineer on this project," Alex butted in.

"Project? What project?" Ryan asked.

"That," she answered while pointing to the Ray Sphere in Bentley's grip, "We've been trying to find that thing for the past year."

"Why?" Sam asked, looking up to face his sister.

"To dismantle it," Bentley interjected, sensing the hostility in Sam's voice, "Sam trust me."

"Trust you?! You lied to me Bentley!"

"Just like you lied to them?" Bentley snapped, pointing at Delsin.

"That was classified information, they couldn't know!"

"This is the same thing Sam! I was given direct orders to keep this quiet," Bentley said with a sigh before looking over at Alex. "What about the situation at Curdun Cay?"

"I've already sent a team to investigate," she replied.

"What situation?" Fetch asked, feeling uneasy.

"You guys missed someone during your little prison break," Ryan butted in. Bentley sighed.

"All those files about John White," he began while looking at Sam, "They were performing tests on him. Experimenting on him.

"If John's alive, this whole thing can happen again," Alex added.

"Not likely," Cole countered, "John did what he did to destroy the plague. It was his cure."

"His _cure_ was to wipe out ninety percent of the population?" Alex spoke, dubious.

"Never said it was a good cure."

"Listen, it doesn't matter what happened then. What's done is done. All we can do is focus on what's happening right now. And that's putting an end to all of this," Bentley reminded while motioning the Ray Sphere in his hands. The remainder of the flight wasn't long, and soon enough, the group was back on the ground.

"Alright, we're here," Alex announced while undoing her seatbelt. When they walked out of the helicopter, Delsin and the others found themselves in a large hanger bay. Fetch looked up to see two large doors closing and forming the ceiling. All around them, crates and boxes were stacked rather precariously on top of each other. Everyone followed Alex to a large reinforced door. After pressing her keycard against it, the door slid open.

"Welcome to the First Sons."


	10. CHAPTER 8 - First Sons

A/N: Here's another chapter and, as promised, some more OCs. This chapter's a little shorter than usual, but we're hitting a critical junction in the story and I don't want to fill it with extraneous information. I'm now all done with school this year so expect more content to be uploaded. Enjoy!

As the large door slid open for them, they got a peek of what was beyond. A large handful of uniformed men and women were patrolling an equally large hallway. However, one figure stood out to the group. He was in the middle of the hallway and sat in a motorized wheelchair. Alex kept walking until she was right in front of him. Bentley stood by her side.

"Cooper, Sampson, good to have you two back."

"It's good to be back sir. Any word from Curdun Cay?" Bentley asked.

"Yes, our agents believe we fund the cell John was being held in. However, it was empty when they arrived.

"Damn it," Bentley muttered to himself.

"Don't pin it on yourself. After all, it wasn't a complete loss," the man said while pointing to the Ray Sphere in Bentley's hands.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Ryan perked up.

"I'm Director Davis. I'm in charge of this facility," he answered.

"And just what kind of facility is this exactly?" Ryan countered.

"If you just follow me, I promise your questions will be answered," he said while turning his chair around and rolling down the hallway, "Well, most of them anyway," Ryan grunted as they followed Davis. After a few minutes, they came to a large doorway to their left that opened to reveal another hanger, this one only slightly smaller than the first.

"How big _is_ this place?" Fetch asked, her eyes wandering about.

"Bigger than Curdun Cay," Alex answered, "We intended this compound to be a refuge, though, with everything that's been added on in the last few years, it became our base of operations. We currently have room and board for close to a thousand people. And that's not to mention the various training and community centers."

"Sounds like summer camp more than a refuge," Fetch noted.

"I'll take that as a compliment. We've tried really hard to make this place a 'home away from home' for our conduits," Davis butted in as they approached another door, "And soon enough, you'll get a chance to meet them." Alex stepped in front and opened the door for the rest to enter. On the other side, various sharply-dressed men and women chatted amongst themselves. Some were gathered around whiteboards, some were gathered around a large table in the center of the room, and many others were simply standing around hunched over tablets and clipboards. When the group walked in however, their attention was completely drawn away from their current tasks. They weren't staring at the group however, they were staring at the Ray Sphere in Bentley's hands.

"C'mon everyone, we've all seen a weapon of mass destruction before, get back to work," Davis ordered nonchalantly. They did what they were told and went back to their stations. Bentley placed the Ray Sphere on the table and Davis directed his attention towards Delsin.

"Cooper, I want you to show them to their bunks. Sampson, get started on dismantling this thing."

"Yes Director," Alex replied while motioning for the group to follow her.

"Oh except," Davis butted, "Sam and Cole, I'd like to speak with you two privately. Sam and Cole looked at Davis before looking at each other for a brief second. Meanwhile, everyone else left the room and went down another long hallway. As they did, they walked past a large open area full of tress and artificial turf. There were also many people strewn about, some were alone while others were gathered in small groups.

"Are these the conduits?" Ryan asked.

"Some of them yes," Alex answered.

"I'm gonna' take a look around," he said before breaking away from the rest of the group.

"You'll be rooming with Eugene!" she called out, knowing better than to get in a conduit's way. We made his way through the crowd of people, looking at everyone he passed. However, he wasn't paying attention and accidentally walked into someone. She was jogging to fast, and they both fell to their feet. As they stood up, she looked up and blushed.

"I'm—I'm sorry, I should've looked where I was going," she apologized.

"Don't worry about," he said as he stood up and brushed off his pants. He then outstretched his hand, gesturing to help her up.

"Oh, th—thanks," she replied as she took his hand.

"You're welcome, miss…"

"Katherine… Jennings." Her short brown rested uneasily on her head.

"Nice to meet you, I'm—"

"Kat!" another called out. Another girl ran up to talk to the two of them.

"Is this guy giving you trouble?" she asked in a clear Irish accent, her braided auburn hair resting just above her shoulders.

"N—no, I just ran into him by accident," Kat clarified.

"Good, I'd hate to have to get his Reaper hoodie messy."

"You know the Reapers?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, grew up in Empire City actually," she answered.

"Sounds like you know how to take care of yourself then," Ryan assumed. She chuckled.

"Watch this guy, tell the guards if he does anything," she told Kat. Kat rolled her eyes.

"That's Lynne," Kat explained.

"She's a cupcake," Ryan teased.

"Don't take it personally, she feels the same way about a lot of people, especially the guys."

"Don't worry, I get that a lot. Anyways, names Ryan," he added while extending his hand.

"Nice to meet you. Sorry to uh… hit and run, but I have to head to class," she said before running off.

"Wait… class?" Ryan pondered.

Meanwhile…

After traversing several hallways as well as a flight of stairs. They made it to their bunks. Eugene and Ryan shared one room while Fetch and Delsin shared an adjacent room. The rooms were small. Each contained a bunk bed, two dressers, and a table. The two rooms shared a connecting bathroom. They were all given keys and Eugene ran back to give Ryan his. Alex then left the two alone. Fetch noticed that ever since their run-in with Cole, Delsin hasn't been nearly as talkative. Delsin laid on the bed and stretched.

"Feels good to lay in an actual bed," Delsin commented.

"I guess it has been a while hasn't it?" Fetch added, sitting in one of the chairs. After a moment of silence, she finally asked.

"What did Cole show you?" Delsin sighed.

"He showed me the night my parents died," he answered.

"Oh my god…" Fetch replied.

"It was so long ago… I thought I had completely erased it from my memory," Delsin explained.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Fetch asked. Delsin sighed again.


	11. CHAPTER 9 - Delsin Rowe

_When my parents met, they said it was love at first sight. My mother worked at the longhouse and my father was a police officer. At a young age, my brother and I never really interacted that much. Our interests were too different. He wanted to be an officer, even then. Me… I volunteered at the longhouse with my mom. I spent my time helping her and Betty making food. I had fun. Meanwhile, my dad was teaching Reggie how to shoot. Both of them wanted me to join them, but I didn't want to. I hated guns._

 _One night, as we were all sleeping, I heard a noise. It sounded like someone was in the kitchen downstairs. I climbed out of bed and slowly walked downstairs. I had expected to find my parents down there cleaning or doing the dishes. However, it was something completely different, or SOMEONE completely different._

 _It was a tall man in a black hoodie and jeans who wore that stupid ski masks that burglars wear. I knew exactly what was happening. I went back upstairs and into my parents' room. I shook my mom until she woke up and looked at me._

 _"_ _Delsin honey, what is it?" she asked._

 _"_ _There's a stranger in the kitchen," I told her. Her expression completely changed and she turned over to face her husband._

 _"_ _Honey, wake up!" she whispered._

 _"_ _What's going on?" he asked groggily._

 _"_ _Delsin said there's somebody downstairs," she explained. Just like her, his expression changed, and he looked a lot more awake._

 _"_ _Wait here," he told us before reaching under his bed and grabbing his gun._

 _"_ _Promise me you won't use it?" I asked him, seeing the gun. He hugged me tightly._

 _"_ _I promise you won't get hurt," he said as he left the embrace, go on back to your room and lock the door." He then slowly crept downstairs while we went back to my room. It was then my mother woke up Reggie and explained to him what was going on. We didn't hear much of what happened. There was dead silence for several seconds. Then, I heard some muttered words. I recognized my dad's voice as well as a second, belonging to the burglar. They started soft, but progressively grew louder and louder, until BANG!_

 _A gunshot rang in the air and our mom clung us to her. We heard footsteps come up the stairs and she clung us to her even tighter. Next thing we knew, the same man I saw kicked open the door and pointed his gun directly at us. I couldn't make out anything from the yelling and the crying but I knew exactly what was happening. He took our mom, yanked her away from us, and started yelling. She got up and started to distract the man. However, he just shot her. Her frantic movements were replaced by a limp body._

 _He then looked at us, and another gunshot filled the air. I closed my eyes, expecting something else to happen. Nothing did. I opened them again and the man was clutching a bullet wound in his chest. He tried pointing the gun at me and another gunshot was heard. He then clutched a second bullet wound before falling to the ground. I looked over and saw Reggie holding his handgun, tears falling down his face._

"If I hadn't told my Dad… they would still be here…"

"Delsin… I'm so sorry," Fetch told him while placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Reggie went on to follow in our dad's footsteps and I just…"

"Delsin, you saved all these conduits," Fetch responded.

"Yeah? And how many had to die before we could?" Delsin snapped.

"You had no problem killing dupes before, why is it any different now?" Fetch asked, agitated.

"You don't know how hard I've tried repressing this Fetch! My brother killed someone!"

"I killed my brother D!" Fetch snapped back, "I've tried forgetting it again and again and it doesn't work! I learned to live with it… with the fact that I'm a killer. You need to stop pretending you're alone, cuz' you're not."

 **A/N: Super short chapter this time. I had a rather difficult time writing this. I hate writing sadder pieces like this and, especially with Delsin, it's kinda' uncomfortable. I do want to be a better writer overall though and that means stepping outside your comfort zone now and then. I've also decided to take some courses over the summer to help me get ahead, so I won't be as free as I would like. I will still try my best to upload chapters regularly. Thank you for being so patient. You guys rock!**


	12. CHAPTER 10 - True Intentions

**A/N** \- Annnnnndddd done. Another chapter in. I would've posted this one sooner, but my computer went dark on me and I had to take it in to get it fixed. But I'm back now and ready to upload again. I do plan on the chapters being a little longer than some of the previous ones so I only ask that you remain patient. Thanks for all the support you've given me, you guys rock!

Sam sat still, as Cole talked to Director Davis alone in his office. He contemplated what they were discussing, as well as what Davis wanted to discuss with Sam. After a few minutes, the door to his office opened and Cole walked out.

"I softened him up for you," Cole joked while Sam stood up and walked in.

"Thank you for seeing me Sam, if you could so kindly close the door," he asked from a seated position behind a desk. Sam closed the door and gave the director his undivided attention.

"I understand that you helped lead the assault on Curdun Cay?"

"Yes sir," Sam replied sharply.

"Both agent Sampson and your sister speak highly of your resolve," Davis added.

"If it's a job offer, I refuse," Sam spoke bluntly. Davis looked surprise.

"Is that because of Bentley's secrecy… or Lucy Kuo?" Davis asked.

"I don't have to say anything to you. All you care about is conducting tests and experiments on living people," Sam accused. Davis sighed.

"Once upon a time, we were interested in one thing, the advancement of our understanding of the human body. We believed that people could do the impossible: heal faster, be immune to diseases… live longer, healthier lives," Davis began, "When Kessler came to us, saying he had the answers, we listened… skeptically. Though, the longer he spoke, the saner he sounded. We went along with his project and when it was done… that's when the line was drawn."

"It took the destruction of an entire city to realize this was wrong?" Sam asked condescendingly.

"We didn't know what was happening until it was too late. Some of us fought back but, with Kessler's conduits, there was nothing we could do, except help the government take them down," Davis explained.

"John?" Sam assumed. Davis nodded.

"We gave him as much information as we could. Test results, blueprints, everything. But it still wasn't enough. He still activated the Ray Sphere."

"Look what happened next, Cole stopped Kessler," Sam mentioned.

"But at what cost? So many died. Many of which were close friends and family," Davis sighed.

"I see what you're trying to do, and it's not working," Sam interrupted. Davis chuckled.

"Sampson was right. You're a lot smarter than you look. You're right to be cautious, but we're not the enemy here," Davis argued.

"Then what are you? What is this place?" Sam asked.

"This is part of my three-phase program. Phase 1 is to gather conduits to help oversee Phase 2," Davis began, "And once again, we very much appreciate your help in that."

"And Phase 2?" Sam asked.

"Phase 2 is to train the conduits," Davis answered, "We provide a basic foundation on which these conduits can survive during Phase 3."

"And Phase 3?" Sam asked hesitantly. Davis sighed.

"Phase 3 is a… a 'what-if' scenario. Due to recent events, the government is having a hard time believing that conduits can live peacefully with humans," Davis explained.

"War? That's your answer?" Sam asked skeptically.

"If it comes to that, we want to make sure they're ready," Davis argued.

"So, you force conduits to stay here, train them to become soldiers, and send them to fight the US government?"

"We're not _forcing_ them to do anything. They can leave whenever they want. Here, they have food, shelter, and protection," Davis countered. Sam stood up.

"Please Sam, we could use someone like you," Davis pleaded.

"I'm tired of being used," Sam snapped while walking out of the office. As the door closed, Davis sighed and put his head in his hands. A few moments later, a knock was heard on his door.

"Come in!" he called out. The door opened and Alex walked in. She saw his face and immediately knew what happened.

"He said no, didn't he?" she asked.

"He's even more stubborn than you are," he joked.

"I'll see if I can talk to him when I get the chance," she replied, "In the meantime, everything's ready for the test."

"Good, go grab Sebastian and Ashton," he ordered.

"I still have to say that I'm not completely comfortable with this. Bentley seemed very intent on keeping these two separated," she thought aloud.

"I understand your concern, but we have to know if it could actually work," Davis argued, "If Augustine's project proves fruitless, Sampson has no reason to worry."

"Very well sir, I'll proceed with the tests."

"Excellent, let me know of the results immediately," he ordered.

"Yes sir," she replied before walking out. In their room, Delsin sat still as Fetch stood up and opened the door.

"You're right," he spoke. Fetch stopped. "I'm not alone, I never was. It's just, when I lost my parents, I felt like I lost Reggie too." Fetch closed the door.

"I understand that, that feeling of being alone, but we're all here to help each other, you know that right?" she asked while saying sitting back down. Delsin sat quiet before saying something.

"You're cute when you care," he teased.

"And he's back," she sighed before chuckling, "Should we go meet some of the conduits we rescued?" Delsin nodded, and they both left the room and headed to the community area they passed earlier. Once there, they were greeted by a multitude of conduits, many of which turned their heads immediately towards their saviors. They started muttering among themselves aas everyone else turned in that direction. Then, one by one, they started clapping with smiles plastered on their faces.

In turn, Fetch and Delsin smiled as they walked towards the large group. They started cheering and thanking their saviors as they walked through the crowd. Eventually, Fetch and Delsin found themselves lost in the sea of people. However, one voice seemed to stick out from the crowd.

"Excuse me! Excuse me, savior of Curdun Cay coming through," TJ called as he snaked through the crowd to reach the other two.

"TJ!" Delsin called back as the applause began to die down.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up."

"How have you been? Are they treating you okay?" Delsin asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, a little too social for my tastes but I can't complain," TJ answered.

"Well, would you look at that?" spoke Fetch, motioning towards something in the distance. Looking in that direction, Delsin saw Ryan and Eugene surrounded by a small group of people listening intently.

"Eugene has a fan club?" Delsin asked.

"Come on," she said before nudging him on the shoulder and walking towards them. Once in earshot, they heard Ryan in the middle of a story.

"— and this building was literally about to fall on top of us. So I grabbed her hand and we bolted out the window with the guys still inside. I turn around, place my hand on the ground, and whoosh! This quake races to the building and the whole thing collapses on top of them."

"Then what?" asked a curious conduit.

"Well, we scrounged up some money, made a few bus trips and sneaked into the city," he answered.

"That's crazy," the same conduit replied.

"Yeah, a little too crazy," commented a second conduit.

"Give him a break Lynn," he pleaded.

"I can't believe this," Lynn replied before rolling her eyes.

"I liked it," Fetch butted in.

"Oh hey guys," Ryan greeted.

"Hey Ryan, hey Eugene," Delsin greeted in return.

Eugene waved his hand in response.

"I see you've been making friends," Fetch mocked. The other conduits laughed.

"Hey man, we gotta' go, it was nice meeting you," a third conduit announced to Ryan as all but two left the group.

"Guys, meet Mark and… uh…" Ryan spoke while sarcastically snapping his fingers towards Lynn. She rolled her eyes once more.

"Name's Lynn," she introduced while shaking hands with Fetch and Delsin.

"And you're Mark?" Delsin asked while extending his hand towards him.

"Yeah, Mark Blade," he greeted while completing the exchange, "Thanks for what you guys did."

"Well, it wasn't just us, TJ here helped too," Delsin added while motioning for him to join the circle.

"Thanks TJ," Mark added.

"Eh, you know," he replied. Delsin chuckled.

"Wait we're missing someone," Delsin remembered.

"Yeah, goody-two-shoes Ashton," TJ reminded.

"Where is he?" Delsin asked.

"No idea, some lady in a suit took him away."

"What? Why?"

"No clue, said it was classified."

Meanwhile

"If you could just step inside Mr. Pryce," Alex asked kindly while opening a door. The room past it could only be described as an interrogation room. There was a metal table and two chairs in the center of it. To his right, a large mirror took up most of the wall, and Ashton could only assume it was a one-way mirror. He sat down in one of the cold chairs as Alex sat in the other.

"Might I ask you to remove your sunglasses?" Alex asked politely. He had forgotten he was wearing them. Ashton tried his best to not stand out by covering up his glowing white eyes. He removed them and slowly, his eyes adjusted to the brightness in the room.

"Thank you, I want you to know that you're not in any trouble. I just want to ask you questions," she assured.

"Alright," Ash spoke calmly.

"While in Curdun Cay, how often did you interact with Brooke Augustine?"

"Not often at all, I think she visited my cell four, maybe five times while I was there. The only visits I got were from the staff," he answered.

"What about Sebastian Wong? Does that name mean anything to you?" Alex continued.

"Not at all, never heard of him. Why, who is he?"

"He's a conduit who was imprisoned there," she answered.

"I never interacted with any of the other conduits."

Alex sat back in her chair and sighed. She looked at the mirror and back at Ashton.

"What do you know about the Yin-Yang project?" she asked.

"They don't tell us anything, "I don't know Sebastian, I don't know what this project is, I don't know anything."

Alex sighed once more before looking at the mirror and nodding. She stood up as the door opened and another individual walked in. He was tall, and had light brown eyes. His dark brown hair went about hallway down his neck.

"What's going on?" Ashton asked.

"Ashton Pryce, meet Sebastian Wong," she greeted, "He got the chat we just had and told us the same things."

"Does that mean you're gonna' tell us what this project is?" Sebastian asked.

"Augustine had a theory," she began, "She believed that you two could help each other with your powers. She called it Project Yin-Yang."

"What do you mean help?" Ashton asked.

"You can manipulate light, Sebastian can manipulate shadows. Augustine believed that you could feed each other, for a lack of a better word," she explained. Ashton and Sebastian looked at each other.

"Look up, do you see the light?" Alex asked. Ashton nodded.

"Drain it." Doing what he was told, he held his hand up and the light left the bulb and flew into his hand. The room was plunged into darkness.

"You're turn Sebastian," Alex motioned. What happened next could only be described as unnatural. Slowly, the room began to brighten as an amorphous black cloud flew into Sebastian's hand. The room was left with a strange glow that seemed to lack a source. All three of them were shocked.

"Ashton?" Alex motioned. He nodded and held out his hand once more. As before, the ambient light began to lessen as the strange glow was absorbed by Ashton. Sebastian then repeated the same process and the room was lit once again.

"Well I'll be damned."

A/N - Quick shout-out to rmarcano321! I love your character, Sarah Skygge, unfortunately I am unable to feature her in this story due to her power. Sebastian was the first conduit I received with this ability and for the sake of continuity, I can't introduce another conduit with these powers. I do however appreciate your thoughts in the comments and your admiration of the lore of the inFamous universe. It's that excitement and appreciation that I like to see in my readers. If you would like to resubmit your character with another power or possibly another character, please do. Don't expect these to be the only ones featured, make sure to keep reading and you might see yours. For a basic template, check out my story "OC Emergency". You can then comment your idea in this story, "OC Emergency" or via PM. Thanks for sticking with me.


	13. CHAPTER 11 - Second Son

"Well… it seems Bentley was right to be concerned," Davis stated after hearing the news.

"If Augustine went through with her tests, she could've turned them into her personal army," Alex added.

"Strike missions, covert ops… the options are endless," Davis inferred.

"What should we do?" Alex asked.

"Let them do what they want… but keep a close eye on them. If they feel too enclosed, they might retaliate," he ordered.

"And Bentley?"

"I'll let him know what happened," Davis promised.

"Very well," Alex replied while leaving his office. As she left, Delsin let himself in.

"Excuse me Mr. Rowe, but I didn't—" Davis began.

"Where's Ash?" Delsin interrupted.

"Mr. Pryce is doing just fine," Alex spoke, still in the doorway.

"That's not what I asked," Delsin retaliated.

"We just had to ask him a few questions," Davis explained.

"What about?"

"Unfortunately, we cannot reveal that—"

"Really?" Alex interrupted, "Ashton and Sebastian know. What makes you think they won't tell everyone else?" Davis sighed in defeat and Alex explained Project Yin-Yang. All the while, Delsin grew more and more intrigued.

"That is definitely… something," Delsin spoke aloud.

"I promise you, these conduits' safety is our primary concern. We simply wish to understand them better," Davis assured.

"Now if you'll please excuse me, I have important matters to attend to."

"I'll take you to Mr. Pryce," Alex told Delsin.

"Thank you, Ms. Cooper," spoke Davis as they left his office. After a few hallways, they approached the interrogation room that Ashton and Sebastian were housed in.

"Alright, you two are free to go," Alex announced as they walked in, "Thank you very much for your cooperation." They both stood up and saw Delsin.

"Delsin?" Ashton spoke.

"Hey Ash, long time no see," Delsin greeted. As the three of them left the room, Sebastian and Delsin introduced each other. They eventually found themselves under a tree and they stopped and chatted. There, the two conduits explained to Delsin what they were doing here.

"Wait, so this place is like a school?" he asked.

"It's more like a summer camp," Sebastian explained.

"Our classes help us defend ourselves against humans and other conduits," Ashton added.

"They keep you here and teach you to fight?"

"They said we can leave whenever we want," Sebastian answered.

"Then why don't you?" Delsin asked.

"Where else can we go? Not many of us have families or homes to go back to," Ashton explained. Suddenly, Delsin felt like an idiot for bringing up the idea.

"I… didn't really think about that," he admitted.

"It's alright Delsin, we know you're just trying to help," Sebastian assured.

"I was worried that I sent you guys to another prison," Delsin continued.

"But you didn't, you saved us," Ashton countered. As the three of them walked and talked with one another, Delsin felt comfort in knowing that the conduits he rescued were indeed rescued.

In his room, Sam sat on his bunk with his palms in his hands, contemplating everything that had happened. After a few minutes of silence, there was a knock on the door. Sam stood up and opened the door. Alex stood in the doorway.

"Mind if I come in?" she asked.

Sam moved out of the way as a gesture for her to walk in. As she did, she took a seat at the table and Sam sat at the opposite side.

"If you've come to convince me to join, you're wasting your time," he warned.

She rolled her eyes.

"I came here to see the brother I haven't seen in seven years," she retaliated.

"Were you trying to hunt me down too?" he asked sharply.

"Sam… you went AWOL. Of course we were concerned. The higher-ups were scared you were going to sell secrets to someone," she explained.

"Like you're doing with the First Sons?" he countered.

"That's because of you," she snapped back, "When you left, who do you think they went to ask questions to? I spent weeks being interrogated because they knew I were related. Because of you, I lost all credibility. The only one who stood up for me was Carmelita."

He smirked.

"This is serious Sam. When I found out you joined the DUP, I thought you actually betrayed us," she countered.

"It wasn't fair, I should've been the one on that mission."

"Hey, don't forget who introduced you to her. Lucy was my friend too," she reminded, "But that's what happens in this line of work. You know that… and so did she."

"Then maybe I don't want to be in this line of work anymore," he argued.

"What's gotten into you Sam?!"

"Look around! I try to do good but every time I do…" he began before calming down again, "Every time I do, it goes to shit. I've been lied to, I've been deceived… I'm just tired of it."

"I know you Sam, I know you want to do the right thing and, after all this, you may think it's easier to do it alone, but it's not. You need people to look after you, and that's what we do. When I worked with Bentley and learned that you were with us, you proved to me that you care about these conduits, that you wanted to help… and still do."

Meanwhile, Delsin broke away from Ash and Sebastian as they needed to head to class. He decided to explore some more of the compound. A lot of it was comprised of gathering areas similar to the one he first passed as well as various windowed rooms where he saw conduits train and fitness centers. Eventually though, he found himself sitting on a bench in the hallway. As he sat and caught his breath, a stranger came up to him.

"Um… excuse me?" she spoke softly. Delsin looked up to see the one greeting him. She had short black hair and skin color very similar to his own. She also held a notebook in her hands.

"A-Are you D-Delsin Rowe?" she asked sheepishly.

"Yes, I am," he replied with a smile.

"Can I get an… an autograph?"

"Of course," he answered.

She quickly handed him her notebook as well as a pen. "Anywhere is fine."

He took the pen in his hand and thought for a second to come up with something. He then looked back up. "What's your name?"

"Alice," she answered.

Then, putting pen to paper, Delsin wrote: _Alice,_ and then looked back up.

"What's your power?" he asked.

"Oh I uh… don't know yet, heh," he replied nervously.

Delsin then continued where he left off: _Alice, when you get your power, know that it's an awesome thing! And I'm sure whatever that power is, it'll be as awesome as you... sincerely, Delsin Rowe._ He then handed the book back and she read over it quickly, her face bleeding with excitement.

"Thank you so much!" she replied happily while closing the book and running off. As he looked in her general direction, another walked up to him.

"Signing autographs now huh?" Cole asked as he pulled up a seat next to him.

"Is this what being a hero is like?" Delsin asked. Cole laughed.

"Autographs and fangirls? I wish kid," Cole answered, "I never saw myself as a hero, especially when I first got my powers. Zeke sure as hell did, but not me."

"How come?"

"Kinda' hard to feel like a hero when everyone wants to kill you," he argued.

"But you saved people, you stopped the Beast."

"Because I needed to. When it came to it, something always came over me. I don't know what it is but… I just do these things without even thinking about it. Because I know that it's the right thing to do."

"I wish I had that feeling," Delsin commented.

"I'm sure you do, we all do. Both conduits and humans share this concept," he explained, "The difference is conduits are better equipped to do something about it."

"Not all conduits are good though," Delsin countered.

"Not gonna' argue there," Cole agreed, "But that same concept applies to them as well, they just don't believe in the right thing. And that's the hard part."

"What is?"

"Finding out what the right thing is," he answered, "You seem to have it down though."

"I'm still not too sure about that," Delsin commented.

"And there it is, that gut feeling. Your doubting yourself now, but when you were saving everyone here, not a doubt crossed your mind. You weren't even thinking."

"I was thinking they needed to be freed," Delsin added.

"You weren't thinking that, you were feeling that. And that's how you know you did the right thing," Cole explained.

 **A/N** Alright... in an attempt to achieve some normality, I will attempt to add to this story every other Monday. Why every other Monday? Because I'll be alternating with my _The Code and The Creed_ story, which I've desperately needed to update. As of now, don't expect a specific time but it should be posted before 10:00pm MST on that corresponding Monday. Also, for those who are wondering about Alice, she is an OC that I made myself for the sake of the story. That's why isn't visible on the "Special Thanks" chapter. I needed a specific character to fulfill her role and add some... drama to the story. Be on the lookout for more characters next time though.


	14. CHAPTER 12 - Reunion

**A/N - First of all, I would like to apologize for uploading this late, I had my finals yesterday followed by a four hour drive home and I never had time to submit. Second, I am no longer accepting OC requests. I have many submissions already and I will try to incorporate as many as I can. If you have submitted your character, regardless of whether or not it was incorporated, thank you for taking the time to do so. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your submissions and seeing the different powers and backgrounds. As for this chapter, it's a little shorter than usual due to reasons I've just mentioned, but know we're about 2/3 of the way through the story (and it's already longer than the last one). Thanks again for sticking with me. You guys are awesome!**

Almost nobody got any sleep that night, despite how tired they truly were. The information overload kept their minds awake, especially Sam. The next day, everyone woke up tired and hungry. After grabbing some food from one of the mess halls, Delsin, Fetch, Eugene, and Ryan were ordered to meet with the Director once again, completely unaware of what he was going to ask of them. Davis decided to, first, explain the purpose of his facility as well as his 3-Phase Program.

"I realize that your entire journey has been shrouded in secrecy. You need to know that it was necessary. These are desperate times, and desperate times call for desperate measures. That's why I want you four working with us," Davis proposed.

"What?" Delsin asked out of shock.

"These conduits need teachers, people to help them control their powers. You will be compensated generously of course," Davis clarified.

"You… want us… to be teachers?" Ryan reiterated.

"Of course, by fighting Augustine, you all have proven yourselves very capable."

"What would we have to do exactly?" Fetch asked.

"We have a basic syllabus for you guys to follow but feel free to make… minor changes where you see fit," Davis answered.

"Jesus, this really is a school," Fetch commented with arms crossed.

"If you guys need time to think it over, I understand completely," Davis added.

"Definitely," Delsin replied quickly.

"Very well then, I just ask that each of you go over this packet of information," he instructed while handing Delsin four relatively large stapled packets. Delsin dispersed the packets to the four of them and Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Sir?" a voice crackled through the intercom on Davis' desk.

"One sec," Davis told the conduits before pushing a button on the intercom, "What is it?"

"They're here," the voice answered.

"Excellent, I'll be right over," he said while beginning to move towards the door.

"What's happening?" Delsin asked.

"Your friends from Empire City are here," he answered. Meanwhile, Sam sat in the mess hall finishing up his food when Bentley came up to sit across from him, his laptop draped over his shoulder in a bag. Sam refused to look up from his food.

"Sam?" Bentley spoke.

No response.

"Sam? C'mon talk to me," he pleaded.

No response.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened. I wanted to tell you… honestly."

"How long were you with them?" Sam asked after a long pause. Bentley was hesitant to tell him.

"Some time after Kessler took over."

Sam looked up.

"So, you did work on it," Sam inferred.

"Yeah, I'm not exactly proud of it," Bentley replied.

"Why? How could you?"

"I didn't know what we were working on. I had my project and everyone else had theirs, but we didn't have permission to know what the others were working on," Bentley explained.

"What were you working on?" Sam asked.

"A secondary power supply, something that could supply large amounts of current with little voltage," Bentley answered, "I was working under Bertrand."

"Joseph Bertrand?"

"Yep, he was just a simple arms dealer then, with deep pockets. I was afraid of him."

"I don't blame you. From the reports, Bertrand was quite the character," Sam added.

"I did things I can't correct. I hurt dozens of others, and the ones I loved… but hopefully, I can begin to make things right again," Bentley clarified while bringing out his computer.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"I was digging around some of the files we found at Curdun Cay and, it's unbelievable."

"What is?"

"They brought them back to life, Cole and John were deceased, but The First Sons brought them back."

"But, I thought _this_ was The First Sons."

"It is, but it isn't," Bentley vaguely clarified before continuing, "It was called the Lazarus Project and the end goal was to revive John."

"What? Why?" Sam asked, beginning to lower his voice.

"I don't know, but there were a total of three test subjects. John White in Curdun Cay, Cole McGrath in Empire City, and…" Bentley struggled to finish.

"No…" Sam said instinctively

"Lucy Kuo… in New Marais," Bentley finished. There was a long pause.

"Are… are you saying that she's alive?" Sam asked.

"I'm saying that I know where she is. The most recent data about her was from a month ago, saying that she was stabilizing."

"And how do you expect us to get there?" Sam asked.

"I can get us a ride."

Back at the main hanger, Davis and the young conduits stood greeting the new inhabitants. When the hangers opened, Zeke walked through with a small group behind him.

"Zeke Dunbar I presume?" Davis asked while shaking his hand.

"You presume right sir," he replied with a hint of pride in his voice.

"It's nice to meet a fellow veteran of this… conduit war."

"Likewise," Zeke responded before moving to speak with the other conduits.

"How are you doing kid? Long time no see!" Zeke joked with Delsin, "I'm proud of you, all of you!"

He then walked over to Ryan.

"Especially you Ryan, after all these years, you never cease to amaze me."

Ryan nodded in response.

"Now if the conduits would kindly follow me, I can show you to your quarters," Alex said aloud, motioning the conduits behind Zeke to follow her. Most of them looked back at Zeke.

"Well? You waitin' for an invitation? Cuz she just gave you one," he spoke. The conduits listened and went with Alex to the bunks. As they left however, Delsin caught something in the corner of his eye. One of the girls near the back was looking directly at him. When he turned to face that direction, she immediately turned around. The sudden movement made him feel uneasy. Soon enough the rest of the group left as well and headed in another direction. They wound up in the same room that Delsin and the others first entered when they arrived. On the main table, they found various tools and parts strewn about, as well as Cole.

"Zeke?" he asked when he saw his lifelong friend.

"Cole!" Zeke replied while hugging him, "Still feels good to hear your voice brother."

"Yours too Zeke," Cole replied as he left the embrace. Zeke then looked at was on the table.

"So… is this it?" he asked.

"The Ray Sphere? That's correct," Davis answered, "Agent Sampson has worked tireless on dismantling it and now, we are free to dispose of the remains. We just thought it appropriate that we waited for everyone to be able to witness this.

"Where's Sam and Bentley?" Delsin asked as some of the staff began taking away the pieces.

"Neither of them desired to see the remains disposed of. They had… other matters that needed to be tended to," Davis explained as the last of the Ray Sphere was removed from the room.

"Well, god-damn. So, it's over then," Zeke spoke softly.

"Not quite," Delsin butted in, "The dupes have a new leader, they hunted us down on our way to Empire City."

"Not to mention we're probably wanted by the NSA now too," Fetch added.

"They're right, as long as conduits continue being perceived as a threat, so does the battle," Davis added.

"What do we do then?" Ryan asked.

"The same thing we've been doing, preparing these conduits for that scenario," Davis answered.

"If they go to war, it won't end well for anyone," Fetch added.

"I'm not proposing that we go to war, I'm simply stating it as a possibility."

"I hate to say it but the man's right," Zeke spoke out loud, "If what you say becomes true and this… conduit war grows out of control, they'll need to be ready. And you can sure as hell believe that I'll be ready too."

"Same here," Ryan added.

Delsin looked at Fetch and Eugene who both nodded their heads.

"We've come this far, might as well keep going."

 **A/N - Oh! One more thing! I still plan on keeping my schedule (new chapter every Monday before 8pm MST), it's just this week that was different. Next week's chapter will be for The Code and the Creed. The week after that will be for From the Ashes. See ya then!**


	15. CHAPTER 13 - Lazarus

**A/N - Don't have a whole lot to say this time, just that we're almost done. I can see this being wrapped up in two** ** _maaaaaybe_** **three chapters, plus an epilogue of course. As always, comments are very much appreciated and I hope you guys enjoy!**

"Is that our ride?" Sam asked as he pointed towards the helicopter in the hanger.

"Yep, she'll get us to New Marais in no time," Bentley answered.

"Sam?" Delsin called out.

He turned around to see the young conduit running towards him.

"Sam, what's going on? Where are you going?"

"We've got a mission, we're heading to New Marais to check out a… situation with a conduit," Sam fibbed.

"Well I'll come with you."

"Delsin… you've done far too much for the cause as it is, I can't ask you to do this."

"You're not asking, I am," Delsin countered.

"Look, I know how much you care about these guys, but you shouldn't put the world on your shoulders. Besides, if you're going to be a teacher, you should probably be where the students are," Sam argued.

"I suppose you're right. I just don't feel like I'm doing enough here."

"Give it time, you'll see," Sam finished while stepping onto the helicopter with Bentley, "It doesn't take a lot to make a difference," he assured just as the door closed, closing the conversation.

"Where to sir?" the pilot asked Bentley.

"New Marais, as fast as you can."

"Yes sir!"

Delsin backed up slowly and held his hand to cover his face just as they were propelled upwards into the sky. When the mini cyclone had dissipated, he simple stared up and watched as the hanger doors closed.

"Whatcha' lookin' at?" Zeke asked, walking up to him.

"Sam and Bentley had some mission to go to and I was seeing them off."

"Ah, any idea when they'll be back?" he asked.

"No, didn't ask."

"Whelp, if they didn't say, then it probably won't be for long," Zeke inferred as he started walking back from where he came. That's when a thought came to Delsin.

"Hey Zeke, I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"There was a girl that came here with you, she had long black hair, a black hoodie, about my age…"

"That sounds like Jessica, what about her?" Zeke asked.

"She was giving me a weird look when I first saw her."

"Well, personally I would stay away from her," Zeke warned.

"Why?"

"She's a troublemaker," he explained.

"Sounds like we'd get along fine then," Delsin joked.

"Not with this girl, seems like she only uses her powers to cause trouble."

"What is her power?"

"Mind manipulation, or at least something like that. She can make you see things. Many people have been having nightmares back at the Hideout and we found out that she was behind them."

"Really?" Delsin asked, taking into consideration the dream he had about Celia.

"Yeah, so just watch out for her."

"Will do, thanks."

"I thought we were through with secrets," said Bentley, speaking of their encounter with Delsin.

"Come on Bentley, I can't just tell him. This is personal," Sam explained.

"And if we bring her back?"

" _When_ we bring her back," Sam corrected, "We'll say she was the conduit in question. After all, he doesn't know what she looks like, none of them do.

"What about your sister? Or Cole?" Bentley asked.

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there," Sam claimed.

"It's gonna' be a big bridge," Bentley warned. The air in the cabin seemed to get thicker as their conversation continued.

"Thanks, thanks for telling me," Sam continued, "My behavior was uncalled for."

"It's different being on the other end isn't it?" Bentley asked. Sam nodded.

Back at the conduit refuge, Delsin was walking down the various hallways as he usually did, gazing into the training rooms. He was looking to see if there was anyone who needed his help. Looking into one room, he saw a girl sitting in the corner with her head in her hands. It was Alice. He walked into the doorway and cautiously knocked. The distressed girl looked up and saw him.

"Oh uh… come in," she called out, doing her best to change her composure. He slowly walked up to her and waved awkwardly.

"Alice, right?" Delsin asked.

She nodded.

"I'm just checking on the conduits and I saw you so I decided to stop by," he explained.

"Thanks, sorry you had to see me like this," she apologized.

"What's wrong?"

"I still don't have my powers," she answered.

Delsin sat down next to her.

"And what if it's something lame and stupid like… paper?" she complained while motioning towards the notebook by her side, causing Delsin to chuckle.

"It doesn't matter what kind of power you have. That doesn't define you as a conduit."

"But look at your powers, you can take any power you want. That must be so cool," she awed.

"Well, it is but that isn't what matters," he assured.

"Then what does?" she asked, with the slightest hint of hostility in her voice.

"How you use your powers. That's what defines us," he answered, "I used mine to free you guys from Augustine."

"Well, what can I do with a lame power?" she asked frustratingly.

"Depends on the power. Trust me, no power is useless," Delsin assured.

"Then why didn't you get any powers at Curdun Cay?"

He wasn't sure how, but at that moment, Delsin realized that her voice sounded extremely familiar.

"How do you know so much?" he asked, now suspicious of Alice. In response, she quickly turned her head back down and looked at the floor. Now concerned, Delsin stood up and decided to head to find Davis.

"Well, it's been nice catching up but… I really need to get to the Director," he said while turning around and walking towards to exit. As he turned however, he felt a tug at his hand. He looked back to see a string of paper wrapped around his wrist. He followed the paper trail back to Alice who held it in her hand.

"Celia?"

Meanwhile

"Sir! We're arriving at the target!" the pilot announced.

"Good! Take us down!" Bentley ordered.

Doing what he was told, the pilot landed the helicopter in a clearing tucked away in the swamp on the outskirts of New Marais. As the chopper's rotors died down, the two of them made their way into the city. Where they were headed, very few people resided. It was a run-down neighborhood that looked like it had been abandoned for years. The building they approached was very similar to a church. As they stepped inside, Sam felt as though they were heading the wrong direction.

"Are you sure about this Bentley? This doesn't exactly scream secret lab."

"Well," Bentley began while stepping behind the main podium and pushing a small button on the underside, "It is a _secret_ lab."

As he finished his sentence a large Catholic statue rose up into the air, revealing the elevator that was connected underneath it. They stepped inside and the elevator slowly sunk below, leaving the statue in the same spot it was when they found it. When the elevator stopped, they were greeted with a room very similar to the one they found Cole in. The cell in the center of the room was barred off by a steel blast shield.

"Can you get that open?" Bentley asked Sam.

Sam nodded before holding out his hands. He hesitated. What if he was too late? What if she didn't remember him? What if this was all for nothing? He struggled to shake these thoughts aside as he used his powers to move the large doors. He dragged them upwards a few inches with a considerable force until the autonomous function of the doors kicked in and finished the job. Sam's heart sunk.

Inside the cell behind a thick layer of glass, Lucy Kuo stood. Her arms and legs were bound to the walls of her cell by chains. Bentley went to one of the control consoles to scan the cell. He detected a heartbeat.

"Sam! She's alive!" he called out while stepping up to the glass to join his partner. Out of desperation, Sam banged on the glass.

"Lucy! LUCY! It's me… Sam!"

"She can't hear you," spoke a voice from behind them. They turned around and were greeted by a tall man with short brown hair wearing DUP armor, "She's in a coma."


	16. CHAPTER 14 - Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Back at the refuge Delsin stared at Celia, his eyes focused on hers. She looked determined, as if on a mission. She then stuck out her other hand and another strand of paper flew towards him, this time grabbing both hands and tying them together. His fingers were perfectly stiff, rendering both his hands and his powers useless. Using the trail on her other hand, she then pulled Delsin back, causing him to fall to the floor with his back against the wall.

"Celia, wait!" Delsin called out just as she walked out the room, the sliding door closing behind her. Before he could rush out after her, she shoved paper into the door mechanism and effectively locked it. He banged on the door in response, but it wouldn't budge. He instead stared at her through the window.

"What are you doing?" he shouted.

"Proving I'm stronger than you," she answered just as Jessica ran up to her.

"I gave Abigail the letter," Jessica told her.

"Wait, Fetch?" Delsin asked out of concern, "What did you do to her?"

"We're not doing anything to her, we just needed to give her incentive to stay in her room," Celia explained, "And thanks to your 'autograph' I managed to write it in your handwriting."

"You son of a bitch!" he yelled.

"Let's grab our targets and get out of here," Celia told Jessica just before the two walked off.

"Don't listen to her Jessica! Don't listen to her!" he called out, his warning falling on deaf ears. Out of earshot, the two girls continued walking.

"Once we trigger the alarms, this whole place will go under lockdown. Nobody will be able to leave their bunks or classrooms," Jessica informed.

"Are the others in position?" Celia asked.

"They're waiting for our signal," she answered.

"Good, let's find Ashton and Sebastian."

It wasn't long before they found the pair walking together. Ever since their first meeting, Ashton and Sebastian stuck close to each other. Once in sight, the two girls put their plan in action.

"Uh… excuse me?" Celia called out, getting their attention.

"Can we help you?" Ashton asked.

"Yeah, we just got transferred to a new classroom. Do you happen to know where room C-11 is?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's our classroom actually," Sebastian told them, "We're heading there now if you wanna' tag along."

"Cool, thanks," Jessica replied. Ashton and Sebastian led the way as Jessica and Celia followed close behind. After a few minutes, they approached a fire alarm. Celia looked over at Jessica and she nodded in response. Then, as they walked by the alarm, Celia pulled it. The loud blaring surprised the two leading conduits.

"Fire drill?" Sebastian asked. Ash turned around to see the girls following them and noticed the pulled fire alarm.

"Wait, did one of you—" He was interrupted by Jessica throwing her hand towards their heads. A reddish mist emanated from them and the two fainted and fell to the floor.

Meanwhile…

Back at New Marais, Sam spent a few moments staring at the man in front of him.

"Jack Callot?"

"It appears you haven't been perfectly honest with us Sam," Callot spoke condescendingly.

"You're the one in charge I take it?"

"I am."

"Why?" Bentley blurted out, "Why bring back John?"

"I'm afraid I can't reveal that information. If you were to come with me however, I could take you to my supervisor. Perhaps she'll enlighten you."

"Enough of this bullshit! What did you do to Lucy?" Sam asked threateningly.

"We wanted to bring back John, and of course we couldn't use him for testing… so we had to use another deceased conduit," he explained.

"You used her as a guinea pig," Sam inferred.

"And good thing too. We managed to revive Ms. Kuo but she seems to have lost all cognitive function."

"You son of a bitch!" Sam called while pointing his dual machine guns at him.

"Look around you Sam, there's a reason this bunker is made of concrete," he taunted while tending to the main computer terminal.

"What are you doing?" Bentley asked.

"Ms. Kuo's been on life support for the past week, but that's no way to live now is it? Seems only humane to put her down."

"You do that, and I'll put a bullet in your head!" Sam threatened.

Callot chuckled.

"So, you really do care about her."

Sam kept his weapons focused on Callot.

"I read your file. The work you've done compares fairly well to special forces. And the two of you together, you'd be enough to scare the government," he praised.

Sam felt some of the tension leave his body.

"You have potential Sam, I'll give you that," he continued while tapping away at the terminal, "It's a shame you let your emotions get the better of you." With a final key stroke, an alarm sounded and red lights began flashing around them.

"What did you do?!" Sam asked, the tension returning. Behind him, Kuo could be seen spasming slightly.

"He cut off her life support!" Bentley realized.

"Turn it back on!" Sam shouted.

"It was too late before you even got here," Callot replied calmly.

"Do it!" Sam shouted again. However, the sound of a heart monitor on the terminal flat-lining proved that it truly was too late. Anger was replaced with despair as Sam turned around and banged on the glass.

"Lucy! LUCY!"

"This is for the best Sam, she never would've loved you anyway," Callot calmly noted. In a second, Sam snapped and opened fire on Callot, who created a concrete barrier to shield himself. He then pushed it forward and Sam responded by bringing up his own shield in a wedge-shape, which shattered the wall on impact. Meanwhile, Bentley took shelter behind Kuo's cell as the battle continued. Taking concrete from the wall, Callot constructed a whip and flailed it at Sam. For several seconds he was pummeled from left to right. Callot then constructed a second whip and Sam suddenly felt overwhelmed.

Concrete shrapnel was being shot around in every direction, crashing into computer screens, and scratching the glass of Kuo's cell. Desperate to get out of his current situation, Sam prepped a grenade launcher and fired in Callot's general direction. The impact sent both flying in opposite directions. When they got to their feet, they felt the bunker begin to crumble. Callot tore an opening in the concrete ceiling and projected himself outwards. Sam then followed him using his thrusters.

Once they were back in the church, Sam tackled him to the ground and jabbed at him with steel-laden fists. Callot responded by encasing his arms in concrete and punching him in the side of the head, knocking him back. He then stood up and threw concrete shards at Sam. He rolled out of the way and shot Callot in the foot, who proceeded to fall onto his knees. He then found two pieces of scrap metal he used to bound Callot's hands, rendering him powerless. Sam stood back up and pointed his gun directly at him, poised to kill.

"Sam!" Bentley called out as he crawled out of the bunker. Once out, he saw the confrontation.

"Sam don't this. He might have information we need," Bentley pleaded.

"He killed Lucy Bentley! He killed her!" he shouted.

"This isn't what she would want!" Bentley argued.

"Don't give me that!" Sam shouted back.

"We need him alive! He can tell us what's going on!"

Sam shook his head.

"It's a shame," Callot stepped in, "You're both very talented individuals, but you let your emotions take over."

"Better that than to blindly follow orders," Bentley claimed.

"That's rich coming from you. All you've done is blindly follow. All just to impress her."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Bentley defended just as the building began crumbling around them.

"Alright, grab him and let's go!" Sam ordered. Bentley put Callot back onto his feet and they walked towards the entrance. Callot looked up to see a chuck of stone crack away from the ceiling.

"She's your problem now!" Callot shouted before shuffling away from Bentley, allowing the large stone to fall on top of the DUP leader. The two took a second to process what happened before making for the entrance. As soon as they left the church, the entire building fell to the ground.

"Why? Why did he do that?" Bentley asked, flabbergasted.

"It's like you said, he could've told us something, "But who was he talking about?"

"I don't know, but we should head back."

Meanwhile…

Ashton and Sebastian slowly got back on their feet, a feeling of dizziness overwhelming them. They looked back at each other as if to confirm what just happened. It wasn't until they realized the alarm was still blaring that whatever happened was still happening.

"Ash? Sebastian?" Delsin called out as he ran to them, "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah we're fine, some girl pulled the fire alarm and another one knocked us out," Ashton explained.

"It was probably Celia," he suggested while helping the two of them to their feet.

"Celia?"

"Yeah, she locked me up a bit ago."

"Why?" Sebastian asked.

"I don't know, but we need to get you out of here," Delsin pleaded, "We're evacuating."

"Wait, we can help," Ashton suggested.

"Trust me I know, but you two are too important. We need to get you guys on a chopper."

Despite their eagerness to help, the light-headed feeling they were experiencing suggested that they weren't in the best shape to help. Delsin lead the two of them down the various hallways until they eventually came across one of the hangers, though the doors were sealed shut.

"We're in lockdown?" Ashton asked.

"Yeah, they wanted everyone safe and sound," Delsin explained as he fiddled with the control panel of the door.

"You know how to get us out of here?" Sebastian asked. No sooner, Delsin got the door open.

"How did you do that?" Ashton asked.

"Alex taught me, now come on," he urged as all three of them approached the helicopter. Behind the trio, Delsin closed the door the same way he opened it. When it was firmly shut, all three of them boarded the chopper. Two guards followed close behind. One of them looked severely tired.

"That's enough Jessica," Delsin called out. Suddenly Ashton and Sebastian felt dizzy and had to shake off the feeling. When they came to, the two guards were replaced with Jessica as well as a younger male. Ashton then looked at the passengers of the helicopter and saw another male in place of where Delsin was as well as Celia. Instinctively, Ashton held his hand out, ready to blast something. Celia was faster and tied the hands of both conduits together.

"She wants you alive, but that doesn't have to mean in one piece," she threatened. Jessica and the other male made their way towards them, but Jessica collapsed on the ground. Celia then rushed over to the two.

"Kyle, make sure nothing else in here leaves!" she ordered.

"On it!" he replied as he headed off towards another chopper. Celia tended to Jessica, helping her stand on two feet. As they started walking, she signaled the pilot to start the rotor. A few seconds later, the lights began to flicker and the door behind them opened. It was Cole. He threw a static grenade in their general direction and the impact threw them off balance. Celia stood her ground as she stared at the demon of Empire City.

"I've been dreaming of this day," she spoke before transforming into a cloud of paper and rushing towards Cole. Using a blast attack, he propelled her into the air. She changed back into her human form for a split second and changed back to shoot behind him. Once behind, she she crafted a paper ribbon and flung it about. Using his electrified fists, he blocked each slice of the paper, singeing in on contact. The helicopter blades were now at full speed. Noticing this this, Cole took a few seconds to shoot at the chopper, hoping to disable it. He was distracted by an explosion nearby and looked to see a fire-based conduit blowing up a helicopter.

In that brief second, a paper ribbon materialized from Celia's hand and was flung towards Cole at amazing speeds. It shot towards Cole's outstretched right arm and severed it, making a clean cut at the elbow. Cole then slumped to the ground and Celia dashed towards him to finish it. However, she was interrupted by a jet of water hitting her into paper form. The sudden shock changed her back, and she was soaked. She looked at where the jet had come from and found a short girl dressed in black continuing to shoot water at her. Behind Celia, the helicopter slowly rose into the sky as Kyle jumped. Using her limited powers, she managed to keep the young conduit at bay. When the large bay doors opened, Celia made one final dash into the helicopter and it left the hanger. The young conduit then went to check on Cole.

 **A/N - Bit of a longer chapter this time; I feel like my submissions have gotten shorter and shorter each week and I'm trying to change that. If it seemed like it jumped all over the place, I apologize. This is a critical chapter not only for this book, but the next one as well, and there was a lot of information that I was trying to fit in. We're very close to the end now, so expect one more chapter and the epilogue.**


	17. CHAPTER 15 - Shattered

**A/N - Here it is... the last upload. Both chapters were short enough that I thought it appropriate to post both this week. I'll save what I have to say for the end of the epilogue so you can get reading. ; )**

When the dust settled, and the alarms were deactivated, a few members of the facility had managed to get the real Delsin out of the training room that Celia locked him in. Anxious to see what had happened, he was taken to the medical ward, where Cole was being treated for his injuries. What he saw shocked him. Delsin saw Cole on a gurney, and his entire right forearm missing. As he watched, Fetch and Eugene joined him.

"Delsin!" Fetch exclaimed before turning to Cole, "Oh my God!"

"What happened?" Eugene asked.

"Celia happened," Delsin explained while not looking away from the medical staff working on Cole.

"Celia?" Fetch asked out of disbelief, "She's turning out to be a real bitch."

"And more importantly," Alex butted in, "She knows where we are."

"What are we going to do?" Eugene asked.

"Find a new refuge," she explained.

"You make it sound easy," Fetch replied skeptically.

"We have a contingency plan already in place. Once we get Cole stabilized, we'll move him and everyone else someplace safe."

"Safe?" Delsin asked, tearing his view away from Cole, " _This_ place was supposed to be safe. But _you_ let someone like _her_ in!"

"We didn't know who _she_ was. We don't exactly have the luxury of performing conduit background checks."

Delsin turned back to look at Cole.

"Who else got injured?" Fetch asked.

"Most of the guards are dead… and Jessica Ferris was found in the hanger we found Cole in."

"Wait, she's here?" Delsin asked, his interest piqued.

"We have a team asking her questions," she explained.

"What about Sam?"

"What about him?" she asked.

"When's he getting back?" Delsin clarified.

"Wait, he left?!" she asked, concerned.

"Yeah, he and Bentley said they were going on some mission."

"I wasn't aware of this. When did he leave?"

"Just a few hours before the attack," Delsin answered.

"Did he say where they were going?" she asked.

"New Marais, I think," Delsin recalled.

An expression of puzzlement appeared on her face

"Agent Cooper," a voice was heard faintly on her earpiece.

"Yes Director?" she answered.

"We have a chopper inbound, I want you to take a team to investigate," Davis ordered.

"Yes sir," she replied before looking at the conduits, "Looks like you three are my new team."

"It's probably just Sam and Bentley," Delsin assumed.

"Hopefully," she replied while leaving the room with the young conduits following close behind. Once at the hanger, Alex unholstered her pistol and held it at her side. The conduits stood their ground, waiting for the chopper to arrive. Seconds later the ceiling doors opened, and the large vehicle lowered itself into the hanger. The doors then closed above the chopper as well as the doors behind them. The chopper then landed in front of them and Alex held out her gun while the conduits held out their arms. However, they lowered their weapons when they saw Sam and Bentley emerge from the craft.

"Alex? What's going on here?" Sam asked as he noticed their not-so-warm welcome.

"You tell me Sam!" she snapped, holstering her weapon, "Why the hell were you two in New Marais? And why didn't you tell me about it?"

"I authorized it Alex," Bentley butted in, "It was my idea."

She looked at Bentley with anger and disappointment in her eyes, and then turned to face Sam, who looked pained and distraught. Her expression softened. Sam then walked past the group as the doors opened up again.

"Well what happened?" she asked him.

"Long story!" he shouted as the bay doors closed.

Alex sighed and Bentley looked over in the corner, where he saw the remains of another helicopter.

"What happened here?" he asked while motioning towards the wreckage.

"Long story," she answered, a hint of annoyance in her voice. It took about half an hour, but eventually, Sam, Alex, and Bentley met up and they shared information. Each informing the other of what they just experienced.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alex asked the two, "We could've prepped a team and gotten her out of there."

"It was personal," was Sam's only reply.

"Damn it Sam, when are you going to grow up? She was my friend too!" she shouted.

"Guys, there's no point in yelling at each other. That's not going to fix any of this," Bentely reasoned.

"You're right Bentley. All we can do is get ready to move," she agreed.

"Move?" Sam asked.

"We've been compromised, we need a new base," she explained.

"One of the backup facilities?" Bentley asked.

Alex nodded. After a moment of silence, Sam spoke again.

"Where's Jessica? I want to ask her some questions too."

Meanwhile, Delsin was scouring the facility. Everywhere he looked, he saw conduits helping the remaining guards pack up and move boxes and crates towards the hanger. All in all, it was a disorganized mess. However, he eventually found who he was looking for: a girl about his age with short black hair dressed in all black. She had a small notepad and appeared to be drawing on it. Delsin slowly approached her.

"Excuse me?" he asked politely, causing her to look up, "Are you Sarah?"

"Who's asking?"

"My name's Delsin Rowe," he introduced with his hand outstretched.

"Well in that case, I'm Sarah… Skygge," she introduced, finishing the handshake.

"I wanted to thank you for what you did back there."

"I did what I had to," she replied nonchalantly while going back to drawing.

"What do you have there?" Delsin asked, motioning towards the notepad. She turned it towards him and Delsin saw a nearly completed picture of Celia donning her rabbit mask. After a few moments, she returned to finish her drawing.

"You draw a lot like her," Delsin noticed.

"Who do you think taught her?" she asked, not looking up from her work.

"Wait, you knew her?"

"We arrived at our orphanage around the same time. Neither of our parents wanted us. We became good friends, we both kept away from the other kids. However, I found a couple who liked me and they took me in. Celia was jealous, said I was her only friend."

"You don't have to continue if you don't—"

"When she found out I had powers, she killed my adoptive parents and took me in."

"Why?"

"Because she's twisted! I wanted to kill her when I saw her but… I couldn't do it."

"There's other ways of solving problems," Delsin argued.

"You think _she_ believes that?"

"She could've killed me, but she didn't," Delsin countered.

"Then she's not done with you."

When Alex, Sam, and Bentley walked into the interrogation room, they were greeted by a distraught conduit in a restraining device. Sam sat in front of her. For a few seconds, she refused to made eye contact, but when she did, she recognized him.

"You remember me, don't you?" Sam asked.

She nodded.

"Delsin told me you messed with his head. Why?"

"She told me to, said if I didn't listen to her she was going to kill me," she explained.

"Celia?" Sam asked.

She nodded.

"Is Celia working for someone?"

"Yes, but I already told you people, I don't know who she is. I was never given a name."

Sam sighed before looking at Bentley and Alex. Alex replied by looking directly at Jessica.

"You said one of the conduits on your team could manipulate electronic systems, letting them access the lockdown controls. Where did you find someone like that?"

"Empire City, that's where she did most of her recruiting," she explained.

"Is that where Celia was hiding as well?" Alex asked.

She nodded.

"All this time," Sam began, "I thought she was dead… and she was right there… all along. She could've taken the Ray Sphere if she wanted."

"She didn't mention anything at all about who she was working with?"

"No, not a thing."


	18. EPILOGUE

She stood in her office overlooking the city below. Her long dirty blond hair rested on the shoulders of her pristine blue suit. As she stared off in the distance, she massaged her gloved hands and pulled on the fingers of one of the gloves. It slid off her hand with significant friction. She then looked it over several times as if it were foreign to her. As she was inspecting it, a knock came from the door.

"Come in!" she called out while sliding the glove back on her hand. When the door opened, she was greeted by a young woman in casual attire, as well as an origami mask.

"I see now why Augustine spoke so highly of you," she complimented the conduit, eliciting a slight southern accent.

"I don't need your approval, only my reward," Celia replied coldly.

"A woman of business as well I see, you're going to make it far in this world," she praised while walking to her desk and grabbing a piece of paper, "As requested, Augustine's location."

"Then our business is done?" Celia asked while pocketing the piece of paper.

"Have you received the rest of your payment?" the woman asked.

"Yes."

"Then I would say so. It's been a pleasure working with you, Ms. Penderghast."

With that conclusion, Celia walked out the door. When it was firmly shut, she looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. The woman then brushed off her suit and sat behind her desk and tapped away at her computer. With a final keystroke, she initiated a video conference with another man.

"Ah Ms. Bertrand!" the man spoke condescendingly, "At least your family has a sense of punctuality."

"There's a lot of things my family has," she replied.

"How about the army of conduits your father promised years ago?"

"My father tended to make promises he can't keep, but I assure you, I am not my father," she argued while opening up a small window on her computer, "I'm sending you an encrypted email."

"Why?"

"You've been compensated for your lack of soldiers some time ago, but now I have something else you might be interested in purchasing," she explained. He looked at the email he received and saw that it contained a video file. He clicked on the video and saw two conduits sitting in a room.

"That there is Ashton Pryce and Sebastian Wong. Ashton can manipulate light and Sebastian can manipulate darkness. Alone they are extremely powerful, but together…" she began as he continued watching the video, seeing the two conduits charge each other.

"They are unstoppable."

"And you have these two in your custody?" he asked.

"I do."

"Who else knows about them?" he asked.

"Nobody. I wanted you to see them first."

He chuckled.

"That's why I like you Penelope," he said as he closed out the video.

"I told you. I'm not my father," she reminded.

"If you can deliver these conduits without incident. I am willing wipe the slate clean."

"Oh, I can deliver them… there's just the matter of payment."

"Very well then… name your price."

 **A/N - And that's a wrap! Thanks again so much for your interest in my work. And special thanks to everyone who submitted their OCs. I received a surprising number of submissions and, unfortunately, was not able to incorporate them all. However... there is still one more book in the trilogy, so if you have submitted a character, there's still a chance. That being said, I am no longer accepting character requests. I have many to sift through still and it wouldn't make sense to add to that pile. I will also be taking a break from writing for infamous universe and will be switching over to my Assassin's Creed 4 and Black Flag crossover. As of now, I do not plan on turning that into a series. Anyways, I'm rambling again... Thanks one more time for all your love and support and make sure to stay tune for the next installment of The Conduit War Trilogy! Have a fantastic day!**


	19. SPECIAL THANKS!

Special Thanks

If you submitted a character through "OC Emergency" or PM and was featured in this story it will be listed here. Authors will be included with the character below. I wish to thank you all for submitting your entries. NOTE: Characters are listed in order of appearance.

Author – Character

CrazyAwesomeZebra – Katherine Jennings

DerekJay2000 – Lynne Hooper

SuperLombax – Mark Blade

Deathstrider777 – Ashton Pryce

werewolf35 – Sebastian Wong

rmarcano321 - Sarah Skygge

P.S. If you your pen name differs from what is listed above, please PM me and I will fix it ASAP.


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